00:02
Peter Dunn
Hello, everybody. It's Peter Nicholas Dunn bringing you things once again for an hour. It's the worst part of your week. Joining me? Yeah. Kristen Ahlenius, fan favorite, joins me to solo co host the show as Damian is on community duty this week. Hello, Kristen.
00:26
Kristen Ahlenius
Hello, Pete.
00:27
Peter Dunn
So last week we lovingly teased you about all of your media appearances. Little did we know at the time how significant those appearances were. So last week when we did the show, were like, oh, Kristen was in a couple of different places. We actually got the report after the show.
00:46
Kristen Ahlenius
It was a lot.
00:47
Peter Dunn
It was insane. You were on, dare I say, and I will say, 150 news outlets last week. 150 news outlets, including one that I've never been on, al Jazeera. I've always wanted to be on Al Jazeera.
01:10
Kristen Ahlenius
That's funny.
01:12
Peter Dunn
So Damien is at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Festival this weekend. It's a big part of his life. It's up near where he lives in northern Indiana is a classic cars thing. I'm not a car guy, so I don't know. Pontiac, Grand, Dams, I don't know what's so, Kristen, do you have any idea?
01:34
Kristen Ahlenius
I don't know.
01:37
Peter Dunn
I just know I support Dame and he supports that. So vicariously. We support that, don't we? Yes, we do. Good morning, Danza. And Big Rick Swink. Kristen, what's on your mind this week before we get ready for the show?
01:53
Kristen Ahlenius
Thinking about how glad I am that I didn't know how many places my name would be in advance of my name being places.
02:03
Peter Dunn
I got another report this week. Just late in the week, there was another big like you had another big run. Here it is, right here.
02:12
Kristen Ahlenius
The FSA thing.
02:13
Peter Dunn
Yeah. You were on go banking rates. Yahoo News with 63 million viewers. Yahoo Finance with 42 million viewers. AOL with 20 million viewers. I don't know. Never mind. I'm not going to comment. You know what I mean?
02:32
Kristen Ahlenius
Fine.
02:34
Peter Dunn
Do they have to load the CD?
02:36
Kristen Ahlenius
Probably update their status.
02:38
Peter Dunn
Rochelle. Oh, caitlin Ahlenius is joining us. Troy Montgomery and then Yahoo Finzance, which is Spanish language, 286,000 people. Did you even do the interview in Spanish?
02:56
Kristen Ahlenius
I didn't click the link. Did they translate it?
02:59
Peter Dunn
Surely no. Say no. Say those I don't know in Spanish.
03:05
Kristen Ahlenius
Thank you.
03:06
Peter Dunn
Okay, Kristen, I want to let you know that we give personal finance advice for a living, and I've done so for 22 years or so and I still have to do things in my personal finances to trick my dumb brain. This week I opened a new savings account to put some money into because I just noticed that my habits have gotten really weird over the last few months. I find myself being very spending, quite liberally. Right. And so I needed to pull that back a bit. So I opened a new savings account this week and created a new habit. And I say that because I don't think we can do our job effectively around here unless we are sensitive to our own behavior challenges. So this is my safe space confession.
04:05
Kristen Ahlenius
Having the knowledge does not mean that you're also not human, because so much of it is behavior. So I empathize with that, and we'll talk about it here in a minute, I think.
04:17
Peter Dunn
Oh, well, good. Let's do it, then. All right, show this week we've got what is a sinking fund, maybe two segments of that. We got an unbelievably awesome email. I don't know what's the adjective there.
04:34
Kristen Ahlenius
It's awesome, but she's also in a really tough place, so saying that almost feels it almost feels wrong to describe it that way.
04:45
Peter Dunn
Dynamic. Yeah, it's something. I don't know. It's remarkable.
04:50
Kristen Ahlenius
That is well, yeah, we'll see.
04:54
Peter Dunn
And then maybe some student loan stuff, but we hit it so hard last week, it's just like, oh, come on. Yeah, there's forgiven. Maybe. Unless it gets fought, then the Biggest Waste of money week in the news. All right, let's do this little dance. All right. I did some media last or this week. You know, when the old man gets back out there doing media, that it's a full court press.
05:24
Kristen Ahlenius
You think Dame's watching the show?
05:27
Peter Dunn
That's a great question. I hope not. It's his day, really. And by the way, Dame, you know him. If you are watching the show, I hope you did not take PTO, and I hope you took VTO. I hope you took this as your volunteer day. Okay. As opposed to a piece of PTO, whatever that means. Hey, Daniel. Okay. All right. Oh. Happy Labor Day weekend, everybody. Kristen. How do you celebrate Labor Day?
05:58
Kristen Ahlenius
Food.
05:59
Peter Dunn
Oh, my gosh. I showed you a picture of me from 20 years ago before the show started.
06:05
Kristen Ahlenius
That you did.
06:06
Peter Dunn
Should I show the people?
06:08
Kristen Ahlenius
The people would love that. I feel okay.
06:11
Peter Dunn
All right. Let me show the people. So, Kristen, here's what I want to make sure I've shared this picture over the years at various times, and I want to share something before I share it, and it is this. I am not body shaming even my past self. I just need you to know that I look incredibly different than I used to look. Is that a good way to express what I'm trying to express?
06:38
Kristen Ahlenius
Perfect.
06:39
Peter Dunn
Okay. I look very different in this photo than maybe what you all are used to. And I'm not body shaming myself. I have a positive body image both in the past and the present. And by the way, ha podcast listeners, you have no idea what's about to happen. Here we go. Oh, my all right, so this was a young podcast listeners are like, what am I doing? There are actual professional broadcasters who would never do this. And we've got star of Al Jazeera, Kristen Alanius, participating in this. All right, so this is me at age 20. The shocked emojis going up on the stream. This is me at age 22, 24. And what you'll notice is a couple of things. Number one, look at that head of hair. What do you think about that, Christy?
07:30
Kristen Ahlenius
I mean, the deficiency must have set in after age 24, apparently.
07:36
Peter Dunn
Yeah, I was at a different health state in these days. But here's the thing. I was a college athlete. It was an athlete all through my teen years, adolescence, and so I still thought I had the metabolism of an athlete.
07:52
Kristen Ahlenius
That's fair.
07:53
Peter Dunn
But it turns out I didn't. I'm apparently wearing President Obama's suit that he caught so much grief over. And my lovely wife looks seven years old. She was 24. So anyway, there we go. There's a little show and tell for you, everybody. Kristen, show a picture of you 20 years ago. Yeah, no, don't do that. Because then it's like, why? Who's the baby? Okay, let's start this now. Midwest mushy, is what Troy said. Harsh. Troy, I mean, come on. People at that time, you know, people are like, you're a really good hugger. And it's like I think that just means that it's like a soft know.
08:50
Kristen Ahlenius
People do say stuff like that, don't they?
08:53
Peter Dunn
They're like, oh, he's such a good hugger.
08:54
Kristen Ahlenius
That's terrible.
08:56
Peter Dunn
A good hugger is the creepiest way to describe someone so bad. Oh, he's a good hugger.
09:04
Kristen Ahlenius
Wow. I'm glad you saved that one for the live stream. That was funny.
09:08
Peter Dunn
I want you to know that I get criticism a lot, and occasionally it's things like, just do it. Just be a financial podcast. Everyone's a financial I feel you. There's a lot of amazing financial podcasts that are better than ours, but this is what I want to do, and I really don't care if people don't like it. This is what I want. This is my dream. You know what I mean?
09:38
Kristen Ahlenius
Yeah.
09:38
Peter Dunn
Do you think you wish you were on, like, a good financial podcast? Have you ever sat and regretted your career trajectory? Have you ever thought about that?
09:50
Kristen Ahlenius
No, I don't want to be on a stuffy show. Absolutely not.
09:55
Peter Dunn
You're well, good. 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@peepepeplanner.com that's, askpete@peteeplanner.com. And here's what we'll do. We will answer your email. So Kristen Elainius joins me. As always. Kristen, welcome to the show.
10:23
Kristen Ahlenius
Thank you. I'm so glad to be back.
10:26
Peter Dunn
And I am sending a slack message to start the show because someone is in our studio and no one else is here except me. And so I'm trying to figure out who it is. Probably disgruntled listener. Good times. Damien Dunn joins us next week. Just Damien and I. Next week. He is off today. Kristen is off next week. So apparently I never get any time off. But I'm glad that your career is going well, Kristen. Kristen, last week we talked a lot about student loans. This week we are switching it up and we are identifying a hole in a person's finances that can actually be filled with a sinking fund. What is a sinking fund and how is a person supposed to use it?
11:08
Kristen Ahlenius
A sinking fund is similar to an emergency savings account, in my opinion. But the primary difference is that you plan to take money out of a sinking fund or it would be too much money for your emergency savings fund, maybe to absorb on a more frequent basis. So I would use a sinking fund for things like your car insurance if you pay it every six months. Or maybe you might have a sinking fund for your pets infrequent expenses that you don't necessarily want to absorb monthly, but that don't really fit in your emergency savings account.
11:47
Peter Dunn
I feel you. So this is planned depletion of accumulated money.
11:53
Kristen Ahlenius
Correct. That was much better. Thank you for that.
11:56
Peter Dunn
No, I don't know if it was. I feel like mine was more verbose, yours was more down to earth. So help me understand this. Is there a time frame associated with the withdrawal, expectation of the withdrawal?
12:10
Kristen Ahlenius
I don't think there has to be. I think it's person dependent because I'll draw on my own experiences. I have some funds set aside in a sinking fund for if I would have a major medical expense for my dogs, for example. To me, that's different from my emergency fund. And vet bills are very expensive and my dogs don't have health insurance like I do. So do I hope to never have to use those dollars? Yes. But do I want them to be there in case I need them? Yes, but on the opposite end of that, I also think I put my monthly HOA because it doesn't come out as part of escrow. My monthly HOA goes in a sinking fund. So I think it just depends on your goals.
12:47
Peter Dunn
So how do you keep track of this? Because if you've got five, six, seven sinking expense, what do we call the expenses? Like, do you call them sinking expenses? Five or six items? How do you keep track of what's for what? Do you have a spreadsheet?
13:02
Kristen Ahlenius
Well, you know that I do, but I also know that's not realistic for a lot of people. So one of the other things that I personally do is I put those expenses that I don't really think are going to happen for a while. So that goes back to my dogs or maybe a future home renovation project that I might have. And those dollars go in a separate financial institution that I don't have immediate access to. And then I keep a savings account for the dollars that I expect to come right back out of my account. So again, for me, that's my HOA for you. That might be your car insurance. So consistent, but infrequent expenses.
13:41
Peter Dunn
Yeah, like license plates. I think ours are always due in April. I got to pay for those. And depending on the age of your car at the time, can be rather expensive. I think this is also good for tuition costs if they're not spread out monthly or childcare or youth travel, sports, where maybe there's a big payment due at the beginning of a season. I know that you noted pets, and I would like to actually draw a line between expected health care for pets and unexpected health care for pets and how you fund those differently.
14:24
Kristen Ahlenius
Yeah, because I know perfect time using my own experience again, my dogs go to the vet next week and that's their annual expense, and it will be salty. So that amount is in my infrequent savings or sinking fund, but really it probably should be sitting in the other one. If I am truly adopting this, which full transparency, I have newly embraced this 110%. So I'm ironing out some of the logistics.
14:56
Peter Dunn
Yeah, I mean, you've had some significant changes in your expenses just as you become a homeowner. You as a personal finance expert have to have the wherewithal to say, I need to take a breath, I need to slow down, and I need to do something like this. I have to admit I've had some changes in my personal finances too here recently, where I noticed that I was just spending money in a weird way, and so I changed it this week. I opened a new savings account, added a new element to this. And I think that's the ever evolving nature of personal finance, whether you're an expert or an amateur, is that you have to be cognizant of your habits. And if they start to lead you to a place you don't want to go, you got to implement change.
15:48
Kristen Ahlenius
Yeah, one of the things that we would preach here is if you have a big life event, that you should reevaluate the way that you're spending your money or the way that you're setting up your budget. And homeownership absolutely qualifies as one of those things. So I took my own advice and kind of rearranged some things. And were talking before the show. I fully adopted the lazy man's budget, which is where you really only give yourself access to the money that you are willing to spend between your pay periods. And it kicked my rear. I had a hard time as I was ending the pay period. I had $12 in my checking account, which is fine because I plan to spend the money anyway, but I certainly didn't expect to be cutting it that close. So it was a good reality check for me.
16:33
Peter Dunn
Numerous times over the years, Kristen, my checking account has gotten down to $50 or less. And you tell people this. I mean, we're saying it on a syndicated radio show and podcast with nearly 3 million downloads at this point, and you think, wow, people are not going to take my advice because they think I am broke. But we're actually working our system the way it's meant to be worked. And this isn't about being tedious individuals that are not fun to talk to at parties. At least that's how you are. You are not fun to talk to at parties. I am actually going to a party this weekend and the people have invited me over for the first time. I don't think they understand what they're getting themselves into.
17:16
Kristen Ahlenius
No, you're going to be the first one there and the first one to leave.
17:19
Peter Dunn
Yeah. And maybe between the break, I'll illustrate why this is a poor decision by these people. And so you're going to have to listen to podcasts if you want that. But Kristen, one of the things this solves, very dangerous things this solves is a very high low balance. A very high low balance. If the lowest balance you have in your checking account is $1,000 or more any course of the month, you're doing yourself a disservice.
17:48
Kristen Ahlenius
Yeah. It eliminates some of that volatility, which I think can get us into trouble as well. And then back to your other point about, oh, these personal finance experts had $50 in their checking account. I hope the takeaway is that it makes us relatable and that we're just people managing money and using that education to try and make our personal finances better and then using that to apply it to everyday people, which is literally.
18:13
Peter Dunn
What we do every mean I use a sinking fund to fund my jet fuel. I don't lifetime achievement award winner, all time listener Jameson down in Texas noted that he uses a sinking fund for federal tax payments. Quarterly federal tax payments. Yeah, and that's genius, frankly, because and Danza noted the same thing, former listener of the year. It's funny how these two work. That's what this is about. You should not be surprised by quarterly federal tax payments. And I say this because I have been surprised by them repeatedly. And that's what can get difficult is you get in these ruts and you have to force yourself out of those ruts. So coming up after the break, here's what's left in the show. We've got a listener email, we've got a little bit of a student loan hack, a little bit, hopefully, if it exists. And of course, the biggest waste of money of the week and the news.
19:16
Peter Dunn
You're listening to the Pete the Planner show right here on the Pete the Planner radio network, which of course is something I just made up. All right. Veronica says, I love using sinking funds. Use them for things like vehicle needs, house projects, travel and know, Kristen, I don't know if I've heard them called sinking funds. So I don't know if that's a thing you came up with or what are we know?
19:42
Kristen Ahlenius
I think our SEO made me call them that.
19:46
Peter Dunn
Who did?
19:46
Kristen Ahlenius
I think SEO did.
19:48
Peter Dunn
SEO?
19:49
Kristen Ahlenius
Yeah.
19:49
Peter Dunn
Oh, OK. Search engine optimization.
19:52
Kristen Ahlenius
Correct. I think that sinking fund is the Googled term, which is why we ran with that. I mean, I call them that. I don't know that I'm always so concerned about giving saying that's what it is. It's just say, like, hey, I have a separate savings account for these expenses.
20:13
Peter Dunn
Are you going to it? Will you be at a social gathering this three day holiday weekend?
20:18
Kristen Ahlenius
Probably, yeah.
20:19
Peter Dunn
Okay. Like, what's your vibe at a social function?
20:23
Kristen Ahlenius
Well, probably pretty different than yours.
20:26
Peter Dunn
Okay, well, what is it? I want to know.
20:29
Kristen Ahlenius
Well, I'm from the middle of nowhere Indiana. And if you're also from the middle of nowhere, Indiana, you know that when people get together, they drink beers and seltzers and they play Euchar. So probably pretty different.
20:43
Peter Dunn
Okay, well, I mean, I've been there. Here's what we got this weekend. I've been invited over to some friends house, people that I see a lot, but we don't really hang out that much. I like them a lot. I've hung out with them in the past, but not in this format. And then another family. So it's three couples hanging out, and the kids will all sort of play. And these people sort of know me by day, if you will. They know of the energy I can put out by day. They don't know the weekend vibe. Right. Which is I am not fun.
21:20
Kristen Ahlenius
Are they going to be disappointed?
21:22
Peter Dunn
Yes. And so now I feel this pressure. I just feel this pressure that I have to be on. Because if I don't, it is because I don't like to talk to anyone.
21:35
Kristen Ahlenius
Yeah. Because there's a huge difference between Pete the Planner and Peter Dunn.
21:41
Peter Dunn
Yeah. I love everyone from eight to 06:00 P.m., 08:00 A.m. To 06:00 P.m., monday through Friday. I love everyone. I will share my love with you. Beyond that, I'm really tired.
21:56
Kristen Ahlenius
These poor people.
21:57
Peter Dunn
Poor people. And there's going to be wine, so that's going to make me more tired. And if I'm having wine, I tend to slur my words sooner than maybe my ABV or my what would that be? My BAC would indicate my ABV. No, really, I'm fine. But I'm just like, you know what the deal of cheese is? It just gets weird fast.
22:23
Kristen Ahlenius
Oh, no.
22:24
Peter Dunn
My friend Julie's watching this stream. She knows. She knows how not fun I am on the didn't they didn't invite that.
22:31
Kristen Ahlenius
Many people over, so your early exit will be awkward if you do.
22:36
Peter Dunn
Well, don't remind me of that.
22:38
Kristen Ahlenius
Sorry.
22:38
Peter Dunn
I'm the classic show up at the door and then whisper to my wife right before they answer it. What time do you think we're going to leave?
22:46
Kristen Ahlenius
Discuss that in the car on the way.
22:50
Peter Dunn
Okay, here's the thing. I want to hang out with these people a lot. I like them. I just can't behave.
22:58
Kristen Ahlenius
But it's because you're an introverted extrovert I don't know what that's why?
23:04
Peter Dunn
Okay. I might be going to London in next April. Did I tell you this?
23:12
Kristen Ahlenius
No.
23:13
Peter Dunn
Okay. Maybe it's an off the air thing.
23:15
Kristen Ahlenius
Okay.
23:16
Peter Dunn
Just a little family trip. Family trip.
23:23
Kristen Ahlenius
Rick's wink knows. I knew we would.
23:25
Peter Dunn
Yuker is awesome. We spell Euchar all the time. I love Yuker. It's very Midwest. Let's do the thing. Oh, I don't think we got anything left with sinking fund.
23:33
Kristen Ahlenius
Nope.
23:34
Peter Dunn
Okay, I'm going to read the email then. Nothing like show know. There's some really good shows and what they'll do is they'll have all these things planned before the show and they'll have various stingers and elements. It's like, now it's time for the mailbag and I'd rather just talk about it and figure it out as we go. You know what I'm saying?
23:55
Kristen Ahlenius
Yeah.
23:56
Peter Dunn
Not everything has to be so polished.
23:59
Kristen Ahlenius
I think it's more fun. Gives me anxiety. It's good for my heart.
24:02
Peter Dunn
When you see the word polish, how stuck do you get trying to read, am I reading polish or polish?
24:09
Kristen Ahlenius
I was just thinking that in my head.
24:10
Peter Dunn
So apparently quite a bit all the time.
24:13
Kristen Ahlenius
Yeah.
24:14
Peter Dunn
And then I'm like, well, I mean, I guess it could just be whether it's the P is capitalized, but you just never know what people's relationship with grammar and punctuation is.
24:27
Kristen Ahlenius
Apparently more than I realized.
24:29
Peter Dunn
In three, two, one. Back on the Pete the Planner show, reaching deep into the Pete the Planner mailbag. I'm sorry, that's no good. Kristen Lanius joins me reluctantly. Hi, Kristen.
24:44
Kristen Ahlenius
Hi, Pete.
24:45
Peter Dunn
Kristen featured in Al Jazeera last week. Kristen is our director of education here at Your Moneyline. By the way, big news hitting the press on Tuesday, September 6, for Your Moneyline. Big press release going out. Yes, big news, given that oh, I guess you know what I was just thinking, well, no one will hear this until the show airs on Sunday the fourth, but then I realized we are live streaming this on a Friday. So I guess I can't give any more details than that.
25:14
Kristen Ahlenius
Probably not, no.
25:16
Peter Dunn
Dear Pete, by the way, I'm reading an email now because I'm about to say I'm a woman of color. And that's an emailer's statement. Okay. So I'm myself not greetings all. I'm reading an email. I'm a woman of color whose family grew up poor. My mom did an amazing job giving us the opportunities she never had. Unfortunately, she had no one to do that for her and it has really impacted her financial situation. Currently, she only has $80,000 saved for retirement. She had more saved prior to the 2008 crisis, but she had to cash it out to support us after her job loss. The recession hit Sacramento particularly hard. My mom is 55 years old. I'm now in the place where I can max out my 401K Roth. Four hundred and one K at work. I get 10% put into my four hundred and one K at work.
26:13
Peter Dunn
Not a match. They just put 10% in. I have a pension, but I'm always terrified it'll disappear one day. I max out my Roth every year and I can put away an additional 20% just for various savings. I'm not a crazy go getter. I just want to live comfortably. And luckily, growing up poor, my tastes aren't really fancy. I say all this because the one thing I do want to prioritize is setting up my mom for retirement. The question what are some general guidelines or strategies for kids who want to start to prepare to support their parents in retirement before they actually have to and when they actually have to? Are there any resources you would recommend, like books or professionals? My biggest fear right now is health care costs and how to plan for that without making my mom ineligible for programs for low income earners.
27:04
Peter Dunn
Thanks so much for your time. Also, Kristen is a great addition to the show. She's the reason I started listening. So earlier in the show, I was trying to describe what adjective you'd use for this email. I'm just going to go back to remarkable. I just find it so loving and empathetic and I mean, a lot of people say, well, I do anything for family, but I don't think a lot of people think like this. So I would start there. Brief if you're listening, primarily because Kristen's on the Think, I think you're a remarkable person and anyone in this world would be lucky to be related to you.
27:43
Kristen Ahlenius
Yeah, that was my first takeaway, too, is just like you said, people might say that they would do anything, but Brie is literally putting her money where her mouth is so good for her.
27:54
Peter Dunn
Did you say money where her mouth is because it's Brie? Like cheese?
27:58
Kristen Ahlenius
Sure. Yeah. I thought that far ahead.
28:00
Peter Dunn
Anytime you're going to assist a family member, I think you have to identify a couple of different things. Number one is the support spot. Support meaning you just have to fill in a gap. You have to give them $5,000 to get by something. Or is the support perpetual? In this case, it seems like it would be perpetual.
28:23
Kristen Ahlenius
Yeah.
28:24
Peter Dunn
Then the third element for me, Kristen, is are the resources that you're sharing going to a person that is resourceful enough to make the best of the resources? So I will note through those lenses, we're looking at both support and perpetuity, and we're looking at support going to someone that seems resourceful, very frankly.
28:51
Kristen Ahlenius
Yeah, I think I might add in there that you also have to be very mindful. And it sounds like in this case, the emailer would be but if you're someone listening to this in a similar situation, you have to know right off the bat that there is no expectation of funds to come back to you. Whatever support is offered, just view it as a gift in my opinion.
29:15
Peter Dunn
Yeah. I want to go back to an earlier part of the email that it was really early in the email that I think really is the heart of this whole thing. My mom only had $80,000 saved for retirement. She had more saved prior to the 2008 crisis, but she had to cash it out to support us after her job loss. Think about that for a second. So the 2008 was 16 no, 14 years ago, 1414 years ago. The mom was 41 years old, had a bunch of money saved. The emailer can't be that old.
29:58
Kristen Ahlenius
No.
30:00
Peter Dunn
Right. Okay, let's do some simple math.
30:05
Kristen Ahlenius
Oh, I'm not good at math.
30:06
Peter Dunn
Well, I'm clearly not either. And it's Friday. I run out of math on Wednesday night. The daughter, I mean, 35 ish somewhere in that range, for sure. Maybe a little young. Wow. The daughter was 19 or 21. My math is broken. The whole vibe of the show is off. The math gone. Yeah. I mean, that's remarkable. And so what the mom sacrifice did, was it instilled this sensibility in Brie, the sensibility of which Brie is quite clearly mentally successful and financially.
30:53
Kristen Ahlenius
We talk I talk a decent amount about sometimes when things happen to you both, like your age, when those events happen. If Brie was a young adult during the eight crisis, her ability to not absorb this additional income that clearly she doesn't need today, being that age is probably what led her to be able to do that now. So that's just kudos to her, because not everybody could do that. Not everybody could have that discretionary income and be maxing out their 401K, putting an additional 20% in savings. That's a lot.
31:32
Peter Dunn
I think the tactics that it takes to get this done involve by the way, I don't have a book that I know of that goes through this. I'm not sure there is one, because I think this is an incredibly unique situation, and I would not recommend even entertaining this idea for 99% of people. And I think based on what Bria shared with us, I think she's the 1% that could potentially think about this. Before I go much further, kristen, do.
32:02
Kristen Ahlenius
You disagree with no, I agree with you. And I would maybe suggest to Brie that even though it might be an advanced or you might not be prepared yet for this conversation, but to consider a conversation with an attorney who specializes in this space, because what she doesn't want to do is jeopardize her mom's ability to qualify for programs. And in our community, there's absolutely people who don't believe that Medicaid planning is an ethical thing, and I'm not on that side of that fence. I think in this situation especially, that's something that they can be mindful of and then knowing what assets might be protected. Does your mom own her home? Could you be helping her pay off that liability so she has the. Additional cash flow in retirement. You don't have to sell your personal assets to qualify for Medicaid. So is there something that you can help her with in her day to day?
32:57
Kristen Ahlenius
There are absolutely options, but you do have to be tactful about the support that you give her.
33:03
Peter Dunn
Yeah. I mean, that area of law is often called elder law. Yes. Look, I always try to pick my words. Like every industry, there's good and bad. Okay. So, Bree, the guidance there was read a lot about elder law online to really educate yourself. Kristen I think there's a way that Brie can accomplish what she wants to accomplish and repay her mom. But I think the bigger point here is people love to intertwine money and love and money and family, and they get it wrong so often, and this just seems like a story of which it's gone right. So it's with that, we take a break. Coming up after the break, more on the Pete the Planner show. I'm Pete the planner. Is that the fastest segment in the history of our program?
33:55
Kristen Ahlenius
That was so fast. I don't know if it's because we read well, you read kind of a long email, but we ran out of time fast. I thought were going to get to talk about the ethics of Medicaid planning.
34:07
Peter Dunn
Want to go there? J o. Julie, my good friend. Hi, Peter. You are fun. Although you used to pull infamous disappearing acts at the end of the night. That is friends. They'll come up from St. Louis or whatever and stay at our house, and we all hang out, our families. And as the night gets will, I will disappear. It's like, oh, is he in the restroom? And then I won't come back because I'm asleep and I am unapologetic about that. So this is what I'm talking you're hosting? Oh, yeah. I'm like, bye. But see, this is what I'm talking about. No, look, I'm a grown man. I've been friends.
34:45
Kristen Ahlenius
But you invited people to your I don't care.
34:48
Peter Dunn
They're like family. They've been for 20 years. It's like if my sister and her husband or my brother in law and my sister in law were there, I would disappear. They're all the same. I don't care.
35:00
Kristen Ahlenius
Okay, that's fair.
35:02
Peter Dunn
I give my energy to the I don't know. Nothing. Yeah. Oh, boy. Kristen we had our fantasy football draft, office draft. I want to go through the projections of who is projected to win this season.
35:23
Kristen Ahlenius
I hope Greg's watching.
35:25
Peter Dunn
Okay. Aqua himself. Okay, here we go. These are the your money line fantasy football final standings projections. We've got. In first place, we believe it's going to be team Blackburn. And we've also got in second place, team Matt Lovers. Third place, Chad force. Fourth place. Is that Madeline? West coast? Yeah.
35:58
Kristen Ahlenius
She drafted, like, the entire Patriots team.
36:02
Peter Dunn
Fifth place is me. 6th place is Aqua. Greg. So here's the thing about Greg's, former college athlete, high achieving college basketball player, getting projected 6th place in the fantasy football draft.
36:19
Kristen Ahlenius
Notice whose name you haven't said yet.
36:21
Peter Dunn
So disappointing. In 7th place projection, we've got Team miscellaneous, which is you and our beloved Oz bringing up the rear in 8th. Oh, man. Yeah. Reading through this, I love our we got so many great people we get to work with.
36:38
Kristen Ahlenius
Yes, we do. We're very lucky.
36:40
Peter Dunn
And we all make fun of each other, which is arguably a bad idea, but I like it. So it's what we oh, yeah. Let's do let's do student loan cleanup. The Fighting Miguels are projected to be fifth. Yes, tod I am projected to be fifth. But as everyone's humble leader, I got to make people feel like they have a chance to succeed, even though I will probably win.
37:09
Kristen Ahlenius
Okay, well, you don't think I'm going to win? Well, I mean, you seemed a little upset during the draft.
37:14
Peter Dunn
I wasn't letting I was just marking my territory. If you mean if you wish someone food poisoning, that was just it's just fantasy football trash talking. I don't really want Greg to have food poisoning. I just needed him to know that I'm trying to catch him off guard.
37:33
Kristen Ahlenius
Just know that, like, a snarky look is enough for me. You don't have to say mean things. I'll feel just the.
37:41
Peter Dunn
Did I did wish food poisoning on a coworker during a zoom call.
37:46
Kristen Ahlenius
Yeah, there was a meeting with HR about that.
37:49
Peter Dunn
Okay, student loan wrap up for now. We'll put a bow on it. There's a couple of elements we need to talk about. Okay. We got to talk about the loophole and then does this thing happen? Because now we've got some ideas that this couldn't happen, which is just horrifying. Here we go. In three, two that was a cough. Kind of the throat clear. Sounds out of the mouth. That should be the name of the podcast. Sounds out of the mouth with Kristen Ahlenius.
38:23
Kristen Ahlenius
I don't know why you don't like that. Nah.
38:26
Peter Dunn
What would you name this thing? I mean, should we change it from the Pete the Planner Show now that you're the star?
38:31
Kristen Ahlenius
No, I'm not the star. First of all, you're the host of the show.
38:34
Peter Dunn
Okay? No one emails me and says, peter, so glad you're still on the show. Every piece of correspondence I get is, hey, Chris is awesome.
38:43
Kristen Ahlenius
It's just because I'm new. It's fun, it's exciting. I'll be old news soon.
38:48
Peter Dunn
I doubt that. In three, two, one. Back on the Pete the Planner show. Coming to you for the 14th year, I think something like that. The show has been on the air for 14 years or something like that. I'm not good with numbers. Kristen Alanius, star of the show, joins me. Hello, Kristen.
39:07
Kristen Ahlenius
Hello, Pete.
39:08
Peter Dunn
Kristen, we you, me, by association, know a lot about student loans and know a lot about what has happened. What is about to happen, and we talked about that all last week. But there are two elements here that I want to discuss today. One is amazing, and the other one's a little horrifying for the people who are otherwise feeling amazing. So I'll let you choose. Do you want the bad news or do you want the good news? Do you want to end with the good or end with the bad? What do you want, Kristen? You're the star.
39:41
Kristen Ahlenius
Well, if I normally like to hear the bad news first, and then that way we can end on a high note. So let's do that.
39:47
Peter Dunn
So this whole thing may not happen. I just ripped the Band Aid off.
39:53
Kristen Ahlenius
I regret what I said.
39:54
Peter Dunn
Okay, let me set the tone here, okay? Because let's go real bad and then not as bad as that. And then we'll get to good. So here's the real bad. We're all going to die, okay? So that's the really bad part. We're all going to die. The next part is the whole student loan forgiveness thing. I don't want to say it's at risk, and I'm not even saying that I want it to happen or I don't want it to happen. I'm just saying for all those people who are really excited about it is at risk. It may not happen. It is possible. It doesn't happen because there are people who are against it, people of power that may be able to fight it in court. So, Kristen, how much do you consider this?
40:40
Kristen Ahlenius
I consider it because I think you should always be aware of possibilities, and that's just because I'm a hyper anxious individual. But some of the reports that I was reading and maybe in the last couple, like in the last 48 hours, this has changed, is that I saw that the expectation is that there will be challenges, but that experts in this area are not sure that they hold enough. I don't know if merit is the right word in order to overturn what the president has said. Essentially, I'm not super concerned, but I don't like it. I don't want to see headlines that say, hey, this might not happen because we only have four months to figure this out and that is not enough time.
41:21
Peter Dunn
Yeah, I think maybe the word you're searching for, there's not enough grounds for.
41:25
Kristen Ahlenius
Grounds.
41:26
Peter Dunn
Yeah, that's where I struggle a little bit here, is remember last week on the show, I kept wanting to call this legislation, I kept wanting to call this a bill, and then I had to finally settle on executive order.
41:42
Kristen Ahlenius
Right.
41:44
Peter Dunn
And so whatever boy, I love that I'm discussing this. I have some sort of legal understanding or governmental understanding, but I think the grounds, whatever grounds there might be, are going to be based on the executive order. Right. And can the executive order make a fiscal move like this that affects so much? I don't know how helpful this is. But Kristen, where are you at from a percentage chance that this continues to go through versus it is stopped? Where are you at percentages?
42:16
Kristen Ahlenius
Maybe I'm being a little hopeful, but my hope is that it's low, like 10% or less, and that's why it took so long to get here, because we talked about it last week. The campaign promise was this 10,000. And maybe there's been a lot of behind the scenes. I would hope there I go again with that word research and conversation that's happened, and that's why it took so long to firm this up and then that we're okay. That the decision just is what it was.
42:45
Peter Dunn
That's why I have hope for our organization going forward, because of you. Because I didn't even consider the fact that the reason that this took so long is because maybe they tried to get in front of how it could be. You would hope.
42:57
Kristen Ahlenius
You would hope. There I go again, famous last words.
43:01
Peter Dunn
And again, I don't know how important it is for me to just ride the fence here, but what we're talking about right now, I don't really care of whether it should or should not happen or be blocked. We're simply talking about the possibility of it. We get so caught up in what individual opinions are that it just clouds everything else. So I don't care. I'm just trying to understand, and I'm with you. I think it's less than 10% chance it gets blocked. I'm around five to seven. Five to 7% gets blocked. Now, the good news is amazing news. Some might say it's actually better news than the student loan forgiveness itself. Kristen let you be the bearer of.
43:54
Kristen Ahlenius
Good news, the bearer of good news. So some time into the administrative forbearance, I don't know how many months into it became known that if you had made payments during the administrative forbearance, you could actually request a refund of those payments. We came to know this because of the Public Service Loan forgiveness program, but this was an option made available to those who made payments. Now, what you can do, and hopefully they don't close this loophole either, because in my opinion, I think it was an oversight. Truthfully, I don't think that this was the intention. But if you made payments after I believe the date was March 13, was the official administrative forbearance, if you made payments after that date, you can request a refund of those payments to capture the entirety of your forgiveness award. So if you were entitled to $10,000 in forgiveness, you owe $8,000, but you made 2000 in payments during the administrative forbearance, you have to go to your servicer directly.
44:54
Kristen Ahlenius
You can request a refund of those payments. And then the idea is that you can capture the entirety of that $10,000 forgiveness.
45:01
Peter Dunn
Where this gets even better is a story that you shared with me, is that if you are a Pell Grant recipient, then it goes even further. It goes to that $20,000 of forgiveness where you could get this is remarkable. This is the remarkable show this week. I want you to think about this for a second. A Pell Grant recipient had economic hardship, which is why they got the Pell Grant. They went to school, they got out of school, they started a career. And despite starting with an economic hardship, they're paying on their loans. They're paying on their loans during the pandemic where they don't have to pay on their loans. And now they're in a position where maybe at first they were sad. It's like, well, I busted my butt to pay off my loans and everyone else gets forgiveness. No, my friend, no. You too can get those funds, refunded those payments refunded and get the forgiveness.
46:02
Peter Dunn
That's the way this loophole works. I think that's beautiful.
46:06
Kristen Ahlenius
I love it. I know someone who is going to have a significant amount now in addition to fund a down payment on a house because of this. So I think it's great.
46:19
Peter Dunn
So those are the two elements that have emerged since we did a whole show on this that we find to be the most important. Actually, I just spoke for our student loan expert, kristen, what do you find the two things to be the most important?
46:33
Kristen Ahlenius
Well, I actually also have to redact something that I said last week.
46:39
Peter Dunn
Corrections with Kristen.
46:41
Kristen Ahlenius
Well, the original announcement from the president listed the change income driven repayment. The White House fact sheet now lists that as a proposed change.
46:50
Peter Dunn
Yeah. No, I'm with you. Okay, so I'm totally with you on that. And there was a lot of ambiguity when that came out because it was listed on and it was at the bottom. They changed the language. I think they edited it like a tweet. You see, you can edit tweets now.
47:09
Kristen Ahlenius
I don't tweet, but good point.
47:11
Peter Dunn
That's why I tried to tag you on a tweet last week, but then I was like, four people follow her. So who are we going to see or family is going to see this?
47:18
Kristen Ahlenius
I have one follower because I just reactivated my Twitter, like, two weeks ago.
47:22
Peter Dunn
You're a media darling now. I would probably fire that thing back up.
47:26
Kristen Ahlenius
Gosh twitter's hard. People are mean on Twitter.
47:29
Peter Dunn
Well, it's okay. Anyway, so for all your student loan questions we got you, ask Pete@petetheplanner.com. I'll just say this. The coming months, if you have student loans, you need to have a serious look at what your relationship is with this executive order. You need to say, Do I qualify? Now, maybe I need to ask someone that knows what they're talking about. Do I qualify? Don't just assume you don't. And don't just assume you do. Take time to find out. Kristen, as you have learned, when people put a couple hours into student loan forgiveness, what they end up with is student loan forgiveness. If people want to complain about how difficult it might be and don't put in the hours, they are going to miss out on tens of thousands of dollars of student loan forgiveness.
48:18
Kristen Ahlenius
Yes.
48:19
Peter Dunn
All right, coming up after the break, right here on the Pete the planner show is the biggest waste of money of the week and current events. All that's next on Pete planner show. Pete the planner. There's nothing better than a redaction. An audio redaction. That's not a a what's it called? It's not a redaction edit. No. It's a correction. No. Why do you say redaction? I guess because there's a lot of redaction. Last week, big redaction week, big redaction guy. I know that aqua. Greg's not listening to the show today because my slack's not blowing up with leave my name out your mouth. All right, let's keep it moving. I got stuff to do. Sorry, Jeremiah.
49:11
Kristen Ahlenius
I'm on vacation next week. I got to get the rest of my day wrapped up.
49:14
Peter Dunn
Are you going somewhere or are you staycationing?
49:16
Kristen Ahlenius
No, I'm finishing a lot of my house projects. I told Ashley yesterday, I said, listen, I said, the price that you pay for doing house projects yourself, you save a lot of money. But doing house projects yourself means that sometimes your office is just a plywood floor for a month, and sometimes you just have to live with that.
49:38
Peter Dunn
Retraction danza boy, I got a little bit of a headache. I'm just sitting here thinking about, like, maybe that's the problem. Got a headache. So I can't think of words.
49:49
Kristen Ahlenius
How much caffeine have you had?
49:51
Peter Dunn
I had a lot. Need more? I was about to say something. Oh. Didn't it occur to you that $15 or $13 that you were nervous about in your checking account came on the heels of a trip to Vegas?
50:08
Kristen Ahlenius
Yes.
50:08
Peter Dunn
I mean, I don't want to be that guy. You know what I mean?
50:11
Kristen Ahlenius
Well, but the thing is, the way I was managing my money, it wouldn't have affected me quite like that. So even though there was a trip and there was another anomaly thing that happened, I still wouldn't have felt it the same way if I hadn't updated the way I was managing some stuff. So I think it still rings true.
50:32
Peter Dunn
You got big subway money.
50:35
Kristen Ahlenius
I couldn't afford a subway sandwich on Tuesday. That's what I'm telling you.
50:39
Peter Dunn
I love it. Okay, let's do a thing. I just looked at my email. Bad idea.
50:48
Kristen Ahlenius
Don't do that.
50:50
Peter Dunn
Don't do it. Okay. This is a classic. Biggest waste of money of the week. This is a good one, right? This reminds me of the throwback when I came up with this idea back in 2009, I think, is when we started doing it. This is a classic. It's evolved into this luxury thing, but this is like a classic dumb thing.
51:10
Kristen Ahlenius
I'm probably going to want it.
51:12
Peter Dunn
Same, actually. I just don't want to pay for it. I'm not saying I'm going to steal it, but three, two, one. This week's biggest waste of money of the week, right here on the Pete the Planner show is the Craig Hill eyewear stand. Glasses can be stored in drawers. It says draws in the copy. Draws can be stored in draws. I mean, you could put glasses in your pants and on tabletops, but Craig Hill offers a safer solution. Made from cast metal, the eyewear stand features a tilted design that perches spectacles in a designated spot to prevent loss or damage. By the way, I want to be a voiceover guy once I retire.
52:04
Kristen Ahlenius
Don't send him that clip. Maybe.
52:09
Peter Dunn
Gotcha it. Can hold any frame. Oh, wait, hold on. I'm going to go a different voice. This is Mark, the average guy. You ready? This is the take. Here it goes. It can hold any frame style while enhancing workstations and bedside tables with its sleek, minimalist look.
52:28
Kristen Ahlenius
There you go.
52:30
Peter Dunn
Okay, so here's what it is. You all it's an eyeglass stand. So I have glasses on right now. I want to show you where I'm going to keep them on my desk. And there's no danger because there's nothing unsafe about that. So this is wholly like you don't need an eyeglass stand, do you, Kristen?
52:51
Kristen Ahlenius
I don't wear glasses, so no, I do not.
52:56
Peter Dunn
Where do you keep your sunglasses in your car?
52:58
Kristen Ahlenius
On my head.
53:00
Peter Dunn
Oh, so you're a big, like, sunglass on the head thing?
53:02
Kristen Ahlenius
Oh, yeah. If they're not over my eyes, they're up on my head. Yeah.
53:06
Peter Dunn
This eyeglass thing is $68.
53:09
Kristen Ahlenius
I was going to guess $50.
53:11
Peter Dunn
How much do you think it costs? Oh, no. I don't know. It just seems like an incredible waste of money. There's so many different places to rest glasses that don't involve spending $68 on a piece of metal.
53:28
Kristen Ahlenius
It looks nice.
53:29
Peter Dunn
All right, Kristen, are you ready? What is in the news this week?
53:34
Kristen Ahlenius
Let's just say I'm nervous about this. I'm no damien, have you ever done the news? I've never done the news.
53:39
Peter Dunn
Are you kidding me? Okay.
53:43
Kristen Ahlenius
No, but I think I picked good articles.
53:45
Peter Dunn
Okay, I don't want you to know this, but I'm judging so hard right now. Then why would you tell I just I didn't want you to know it.
53:54
Kristen Ahlenius
I appreciate that.
53:55
Peter Dunn
Okay, let's go.
53:57
Kristen Ahlenius
Bank of America announces zero down payment, zero closing cost mortgages for first time homebuyers in black and Hispanic communities nationwide. Residents in select Charlote, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles and Miami neighborhoods will be offered the program first, so it's certain neighborhoods within these communities. So the initial headline is a little misleading. But instead, there will be no mortgage insurance, no minimum credit score. Ineligibility will be based on utility payments, phone payments and auto insurance payments.
54:32
Peter Dunn
I saw this article and I have mixed feelings. My first feeling is I love it. My first feeling is I think that's fantastic. I think we start to change the wealth gap, which is unfortunate and comes from years of systemic racism. The part I don't like about it is that I get concerned with low down payment programs that an emergency fund isn't present, and then homeownership becomes harder. Home ownership. To me, that down payment is about proving that you have experience saving money, accumulating money, conserving money, because homeownership is really expensive. And so that worries me a little bit. Did you consider that?
55:21
Kristen Ahlenius
Yeah, that part worries me, too. And also just where we are with the housing market. That concerns me as well. Now might not be the time to not have equity in your house.
55:33
Peter Dunn
Gosh, I didn't even think about that.
55:35
Kristen Ahlenius
Like you said, it's so hard because so often I see these headlines and I'm like, I love the end product. And then I think about what we're doing to get there, because the other thing, too, is surely the interest rates are going to be higher just by the nature of the way that funds are lent. Right?
55:51
Peter Dunn
You know what? That's a really good point. I hadn't thought about this.
55:55
Kristen Ahlenius
It's like, okay, no down payment.
55:57
Peter Dunn
Surface. Awesome.
56:00
Kristen Ahlenius
Yeah.
56:01
Peter Dunn
Depth. There might be no worse time to get people into this. Yes, high interest rates, a falling market, and no emergency funds. I mean, look, this show should be called Unintended Consequences, but that seems like some hardcore unintended consequences. I'm not being cynical. I'm not being cynical because I'm for this program. I just think the timing is terrible.
56:33
Kristen Ahlenius
The timing is not good.
56:34
Peter Dunn
But is the timing ever wrong to do the right thing?
56:39
Kristen Ahlenius
Oh, that's a tough question. I don't know.
56:43
Peter Dunn
Is the timing ever wrong to do the right thing? That's a great question.
56:49
Kristen Ahlenius
I don't know.
56:51
Peter Dunn
The timing is never wrong to do the right thing. I don't know what else is in the news before people turn the station, because I feel like my head is in the clouds.
57:03
Kristen Ahlenius
Crypto firm accidentally sends ten and a half million to Australian woman and it took them seven months to realize it.
57:11
Peter Dunn
How do they know? Because she was sailing around the world on a yacht.
57:15
Kristen Ahlenius
She bought a bunch of stuff and they didn't catch it. There was an audit. About seven months later, she attempted to have a $100 refund put in her account, and instead they transferred nearly ten and a half million dollars to her. She bought a house, she gave her kids some money. She then transferred ownership of that house to her sister. And the end of this story is that she's required to pay back money, sell the property, and pay interest on the funds.
57:46
Peter Dunn
Wow, man, it feels like a movie.
57:53
Kristen Ahlenius
So I sent this article to Damien, and he and I did not agree. I don't think she should have to give the money back.
58:01
Peter Dunn
I do. You're up against two old guys. What do you think you're going to.
58:06
Kristen Ahlenius
Say this company didn't catch it for seven months. And it wasn't like she hacked them and stole it. They gave it to her, they didn't catch it for seven months. Why should she have to give it back?
58:18
Peter Dunn
How's that different than filing your taxes and having a refund later or have to pay later?
58:26
Kristen Ahlenius
I sent Damian a message midweek that I'm not going to disclose on the air about crypto.
58:29
Peter Dunn
I don't oh, don't get me wrong. I sent Damon a message midweek that I'm not going to disclose on the air about crypto.
58:38
Kristen Ahlenius
Well, that might be my next news story.
58:40
Peter Dunn
And what else is in the news?
58:43
Kristen Ahlenius
US equities are poised for more pain and bitcoin is set to feel the sting, too, according to one of wall street's most bearish strategists. That is really hard to say, by the way.
58:53
Peter Dunn
Say it again.
58:54
Kristen Ahlenius
Bearish strategist.
58:56
Peter Dunn
Bearish strategist. Yeah. That's no good. Yeah, it's no good.
59:01
Kristen Ahlenius
So, over the past two years, the coin has traded in tandem with the relative performance of high to low beta stocks or individual assets that fluctuate along with the broader market. And this expert goes on to say, as volatility continues across risk assets, he expects the token may fall as low as 15,000, noting, however, that the bearish target is not a long term view.
59:28
Peter Dunn
This is where I have a blind spot and I'll just admit to it. I think there's nothing dumber than making predictions about the price of bitcoin. You know what I mean? Like stocks I actually get they're rooted in something, or at least they used to be. But boy, that was an old guy comment.
59:46
Kristen Ahlenius
Back in my day.
59:48
Peter Dunn
Back in my day when I had hair in a tan suit, people like bitcoin is going to a million dollars a coin and I'm like, what? Or it's going to 4000. Based on what?
01:00:05
Kristen Ahlenius
I don't know. In this whole we can expect it to bottom out and it acts like the market. Based on what evidence? I don't get it.
01:00:16
Peter Dunn
This is the thing about bitcoin expert, no one is a bitcoin expert. No one is a bitcoin expert. It's like UFO expert. No one is a UFO expert. There are no bitcoin experts. Okay. According to bitcoin thought leader no, sorry. Starring young Kristen Ahlenius.
01:00:45
Kristen Ahlenius
There it is.
01:00:46
Peter Dunn
Starring young Kristen Alanius. Next week, damian will be back co hosting when it's two grumpy old men complaining about bitcoin, sending good vibes. Enjoy your time off. Next week, damien will be back co hosting when it's two grumpy old men complaining about bitcoin, sending good vibes. Because good vibes are all that's in the budget. I'm Pete the planner bitcoin. That's how the show did. What's wrong? I have a question for you, planner, and I had this discussion last night, and it's a great question. Do you think aliens exist?
01:01:19
Kristen Ahlenius
Aliens being like beings not on earth. Right?
01:01:23
Peter Dunn
Yeah. Not like they are living amongst us. We're not going to the lizard people thing here. We're just saying, do you believe there is extraterrestrial life?
01:01:36
Kristen Ahlenius
I want to say no, but the Earth is pretty small, so how feasible is that? I don't know.
01:01:47
Peter Dunn
I mean, look, I'm a math guy. Mathematically, the answer is absolutely. Yeah, there has to be you know what? As one of the leading extraterrestrial life experts there it is. I just want you to know who has one of the largest extraterrestrial life podcast followings on the planet. I have to say thank you for listening. Can you imagine? Then the question becomes, well, what's their technology? Are we talking about, like, single cell organisms? Okay, let me go a different place. Are we talking life on the very basic? Like, oh, here's a fern, or are we talking life, like, and here's a guy with 19 eyes. But they're not called eyes because they don't speak English. They're called lurks. What are you thinking?
01:02:46
Kristen Ahlenius
Hopefully they're doing better than we are. What? Because collectively we're not.
01:02:58
Peter Dunn
Hopefully they're doing better than we are. That was amazing. My favorite moment in the history of the show just happened.
01:03:05
Kristen Ahlenius
That's good. I don't feel like that's true, because I'm pretty sure that everyone's favorite moment in the history of the show, when I watched it back, was when I told you that I kind of hated that fidelity thing.
01:03:19
Peter Dunn
Oh, yeah, that was good, because that.
01:03:20
Kristen Ahlenius
Was a genuine laugh.
01:03:23
Peter Dunn
My gosh. Okay, well, let's be done. See ya, Kristen. Enjoy your you. Yeah, have a great vacation. I won't talk to you next week. Don't check in, please. We'll be fine. Who's going to do all the media? Do I have to do it again?
01:03:40
Kristen Ahlenius
Guess it's you and dame.
01:03:42
Peter Dunn
All right, have a good week. Everybody else, stay getting money. Bye.
