Stacking Benjamins: Your Gateway to Financial Independence

We have two exciting announcements that mom wanted us to share with you about today's show: One - We're answering your letters, including a BUNCH of them about the Roth IRA, named after a Congressman whose birthday happens to be this very date. In celebration, we're cracking open the mailbag with our friend Scott Rieckens from the Playing With Fire documentary. He stopped by the basement while here for a sold-out screening, and while he was here we put him to work because OG and Joe...well, you know. On the topic of letters...if you'd like to ask us a question, remember now to use the Haven Life line (StackingBenjamins.com/voicemail). We stopped accepting new letters months ago and we are just now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on letters! Hurrah! Two - Mom wanted us to remind you to take off your shoes when you walk inside the house. She works hard to keep the rugs clean, and you'll just mess them up. That's all. Enjoy!

With debt piling up, savings gone, and your credit cards maxed out, how do you pull yourself out of the hole and get on the right financial path? The first step, of course, is to stop digging, which is what one Reddit user did after racking up over $16,000 in credit card debt. They also posted a list of things they did to make their debt go bye-bye and their Benjamins start to pile up. While it may not be quick or easy to get yourself back to being debt-free, there are definite steps you can take to get yourself into the world of financial freedom - and we'll walk through one piece which reported on the Reddit forum, adding in experts and other information. How much of it is helpful and what isn't? Depends on what section of the piece we're talking about. Today, helping us dig in today is a crack team of internet stars. First, making her return trip to the basement is Chelsea Brennan (Smart Money Mamas), second, we'll welcome Len Penzo (LenPenzo.com), and then we'll say hello to the guy from our own podcast, OG. How would you like to earn stock rewards from companies where you already shop? While you shouldn't shop more to get rich (that won't end pretty), it would be nice to get some extra stock just for buying pillowcases, right? We thought so too, and that's why halfway through the show we'll take a little break from our discussion while Joe rings up and chats with founder David Nelsen from Bumped. Plus, after we subject entertain our roundtable with a round of Doug's trivia we'll break out the Magnifying Glass and answer a listener voicemail from Tyler. His 401k plan is expensive. How does he control his costs of investing for retirement?

What if life weren't so complicated? What if you could stop worrying about lower expense ratios, cheaper insurances, bigger spreadsheets, or trying to perfectly plan out your retirement account so things are perfect decades down the road? On today's show, the guy who is better at taking financial decisions and distilling them to their essence joins us. Today we welcome New York Times columnist Carl Richards, an expert in distilling complicated issues into bite-sized pieces. Plus, in our headlines segment, we'll cover one piece about Suze Orman and her love of cannabis stocks and blockchain. Copying celebrity stock picks aren't always a good idea, and we'll discuss why. In our second headline, we'll turn our attention to one problem in the investing and savings world: women whose spouses are in control of the finances. A recent study shows that lots of women delegate investing to their spouse. We'll discuss why this might not be a good idea. Later on, after we take a break for some of Doug's trivia, we'll take a Haven Life Line from Tyson, whose current 401k with his employer has fees higher than he would like. What can he do to save on fees. And as we finish out letters bag, Leo writes in asking about 529 plans. With FAFSA including 529 plans in the financial eligibility of students, would it be a good idea to NOT contribute to the plan? Thanks to Skillshare for supporting Stacking Benjamins. Get TWO months of courses for free at .

Clutter is everywhere. We buy more stuff to make us happy and all it does is makes us miserable and broke. How do we get out of the cycle? On today's show we'll talk to Tracy McCubbin, founder of cleaning and organizing company dClutterfly. On today's show we'll Declutter your stuff by getting behind the emotions of clutter and dispelling some long-held myths. Plus, during our headlines segment, we'll cover one shocking piece by InvestmentNews, claiming that retirees are going to miss out on $3.4 trillion by claiming their Social Security too early. Is this a case of needing more cash for basic living expenses, or just ill informed retirees cashing in a few years too early? In our second headline we'll erxamine one trend that's gaining a bit of traction: financial apps that charge users to save money. Is it worth paying money to save more? After a little dose of Doug's trivia, we'll turn our attention to the Haven Life Line. Mike calls in today asking about 529 plans. His parents want to contribute to Mike's son's 592 plan. Can Mike use the interest from the account to invest in another account he owns? And as we finish out our letters bag, we'll tear open some mail from Brian, who has some questions about Roth conversions and the pro-rata rule. Can Brian and his wife avoid the tax hit if the conversion is done in his wife's name? Thanks to Skillshare for supporting Stacking Benjamins. Get TWO months of courses for free at .

Picture this: You and your friends are taking a road trip. You get off the highway and pull up to the third gas station of the day. You cut the ignition, take a look around the car and everyone avoids your gaze. You've paid for gas during the last two stops and no one is jumping up at the grand opportunity to fill the tank the third time around. What's your next move? Answering questions presented by one financial story which shines a light on situations like this and more today is our originals roundtable group: Paula Pant of , and OG from our very own Stacking Benjamins podcast. Halfway through the show, we'll take a break from our discussion on all things awkward while Joe sits down with Zohar Steinberg from Token. With privacy concerns and stolen credit card information constantly in the news, Zohar came up with a solution: unique credit card numbers for each transaction or service. Something goes wrong with one of your transactions or services? You'll have the peace of mind that the rest of your account is safe. Interested in knowing more? Joe will dive into the product with Zohar and learn all the ins-and-outs of Token. Plus, after we get through with Doug's trivia gameshow, we'll answer a voicemail from Lynn during our Magnify Money segment. Lynn will have about $5-7k left over after she pays off her travel expenses from long-term work trips. What should she do with the money? Should she focus on debt or investing? Our roundtable will give their 2 cents and provide Lynn some solid options on what to do with her money.