Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. This is not your father's boring personal finance show.

How can you find the extra money for the things you can’t live without? We’ll show you places to find a little something extra. In his book, I Will Teach You to be Rich Remit Sethi discusses that it’s not the $5 you spend daily at Starbucks that is keeping you broke. It’s not the small expenses you spend every day, it’s the big expenditures you make too often. But how do you separate the two? You have to prioritize your spending. You love coffee, can’t live without it. So buy the coffee. You work from home so don’t need a big wardrobe. Do don’t spend a lot on clothes. Boom! There’s your coffee money and then some. Make more money. Ok, you don’t love coffee. You love foreign travel to exotic locales. Saving $5 a day on coffee isn’t going to get you two weeks in Bali (it helps though). You have to make more money if your indulgences are more expensive. So you work longer hours, you work a second job. You can still travel but if your tastes are high end, it will be easier to make more money to pay for them than to save enough money to afford them. Finances are akin to diets. If you tell yourself, “I can never have cheese again,” you’re going to take down a block of cheddar by yourself within days. The same is true of spending money. This is a long term commitment. It can’t be constant deprivation. Set aside a percentage of your total income that is disposable. You can spend that money on anything you want. But once that money is gone, it’s gone. So get your priorities in order. Spend on the must haves and cut out the things you can live without. Show Notes I Will Teach You To Be Rich: Ramit Sethi’s best selling book.

Introducing the LMM’s Wealth Wheel.  Do we debate the age-old question, what matters more, size or the motion of the ocean? The wealth wheel contains four segments that are connected clockwise. The first is income. Simple enough, the amount of money coming in. This could be your salary, your side hustles, or your lottery winnings (not really that last one). The next segment is debt. How much money you owe whether that is credit card debt, a personal loan, or student loans. The third segment is budget. Your plan that allocates where your money is going. A good rule of thumb is 50% to essentials, housing, food, utilities etc, 20% to investing, and the last 30% for non-essentials, things like beer money, vacation funds, clothing, concerts. There is room for individual interpretation in this formula but it’s a good starting guide. The fourth and final segment is invest. This can include your 401K, Roth IRA, your brokerage account, etc. All four parts of the wheel are equally important. Some of you will have a lock on one or more of the segments. Maybe you have no debt but you also have no investment. Your money won’t grow. You have a budget but haven’t paid off all of your debt. You’re driving and going in the right direction, but you have your foot on the brake and it’s slowing you down. There are many layers to each segment. Use our site to dig deeper into the segment that you need a better handle on until all four of your segments are rolling smooth. We’ve done multiple episodes on each aspect of the wheel. As the female member of the team, let me assure the male hosts and listeners, just as all the segments of the wealth wheel are equally important, so too are size and the motion of the ocean. Glad I could settle that for all the gentlemen. Show Notes The LMM Wealth Wheel: Lean about the four parts of the Wealth Wheel. LearnVest.com: The 50/20/30 rule.

We could all use more money, and one of the best ways to get more money is to ask for a raise. But it’s a little more complicated than marching into the boss’s office and demanding one. This summarizes almost exactly my last asking for a raise experience… Asking for a raise is a strategic decision, and can be deployed in many different ways. You just need to pick the right one! Today we’ll show you how the best way to ask for a raise without getting yelled out of your boss’ office. How to ask for a raise: Lay the groundwork Before you can actually approach your boss, it’s important that you understand the specifics of your situation so that you can best determine how to ask for a raise. You aren’t just going to waltz into Mr. Beam’s office and demand a raise. The Beamer don’t play like that. Think about the size of the company, the average employee tenure, the typical pay raise schedule, the benefits available to you and any other details that might impact your compensation. Take some notes and do some interwebs research. What are comparable jobs at other companies making? Take these professions for instance: Source: Robert Half Once you have a better idea of a fair rate of compensation for your position and duties, you can start to think about how to ask for a raise. You should also think about any assurances that your boss made about incremental raises or quarterly reviews of your compensation in the past. If you already have a compensation review coming up in the next month, you do not need to schedule a separate meeting. You simply need to be prepared to support your case. Prior to meeting with your boss, take a moment to look at things from his or her perspective. While business owners and managers usually want to offer fair compensation to their employees, they must also prioritize the bottom line. With this in mind, they are not likely to go out of their way to offer you a raise, even if they are willing to raise your compensation upon request. Persistence is key here, and you should be prepared to hear a “no” or two before you finally get a yes. Be persistent when asking for a raise Ask three times. It’s hard to muster up the courage to ask for a raise once, never mind three times. A boss knows this and may dismiss your first attempt hoping that will be the end of it. By asking more than once, it shows the company that a raise is an expectation that needs to be met. It also serves as a reminder. Everyone is busy; everyone has distractions. If you ask once and forget it, your boss may too. At least, this gives your boss the time to think about what you’re asking them. Don’t just walk in and ask. You have to be prepared to argue your case. This is almost like another job interview. You need to sell yourself again. Know your value within your team and the company. A raise is all about timing When asking for a raise, timing is key. If you know that the company is experiencing some turbulence, it might be a good idea to hold off for awhile. On the other hand, if all is well and you’ve recently accomplished something big, like securing a major account or implementing a successful new policy, you should ride that momentum. Having an accomplishment to point to gives you all kinds of leverage during a salary negotiation and demonstrates to your boss that you deserve a higher rate of pay. Be sure to discuss concrete ways in which you have ...

J.D. Roth of Get Rich Slowly, is a titan in the world personal finance blogging. He shares his personal journey from massive consumer debt to personal finance genius. J.D. began the blog in 2006 when he found himself deeply in debt ($35,000 in debt, to be exact). He decided to learn everything he could about personal, and ultimately wanted to share what he had found. The site was so successful, that he was able to quit his day job to work on it full time. Although, he eventually sold the blog but stayed on as editor for three years before retiring from it. He later returned as a writer last August. J.D’s latest endeavor is Get Rich Slowly: The Course. It’s a 52-week guide to building wealth that teaches you to manage your finances as if you were running a business. The course was a collaboration with Chris Guillebeau (of The Art of Non-Conformity) for his series of Unconventional Guides. Show Notes Get Rich Slowly:  The personal finance blog JD founded. Your Money or Your Life: The first book by Vicki Robin given to J.D. by his friends. Total Money Makeover: Dave Ramsey’s given to J.D. by his friends who saw him struggling with money. The Millionaire Maker: The book that provided the inspiration for J.D. to start GetRichSlowly.org.

Did you play Monopoly with your family when you were a kid? If you did, you probably learned some valuable financial lessons, even if you tipped the board when you lost. Personal finance isn’t a game, but there are lessons to be learned from the game of Monopoly. You can listen to this 30-minute podcast for the Cliff Notes version rather than wasting 7 hours on a board game that will alienate your family and friends who don’t appreciate you flipping the board when you’re losing. Lessons From Monopoly * Passive income is the key to wealth. You can buy and rent properties to generate passive income, rent out your houses on St James Place. They’re next to free parking! In real life, you can do the same. Buy property that you rent out. Stocks with dividends, bonds, your own monetized blog. * An emergency fund is essential. If you have to sell houses in Monopoly or real life on short notice, you can lose money. An emergency fund works in Monopoly as it does in real life. Don’t make more than you spend. * Improve what you have. If you build hotels on your property rather than houses, the payout is bigger. Renovate your home to sell or rent. * Use jail to reflect, refresh and come back stronger. Assuming that most of our listeners are not spending much time in jail improvising shanks with which to smite their enemies, we’ll amend this to, “Use your vacation time to reflect, refresh and come back stronger.” * Life isn’t fair; it’s what you make of it. Everyone starts out with $1500 and their butt on “Go,” but one guy gets to go first. Life is not fair for us all, except the bastard that got to go first. * Life is about relationships. Building a network of contacts that can help you to get a job or help you get guests for your podcast! * There is only one winner. But remember, in the financial game, you’re not playing against the Joneses. You’re only competing with yourself. Lessons to Unlearn Not all of the lessons we learn from Monopoly are good ones!  Expensive is not always better. Money doesn’t solve all problems. Going to jail is not impressive. Not everyone plays by the rules. Bankruptcy is not the end of the world. Life isn’t about winning. Income tax is awesome. No, I made that up. That shit sucks! Show Notes DiceMaestro.com: A site dedicated to classic games. SmartPassiveIncome.com: A guide to generating passive income online. 8 Personal Finance Lessons I Learned From Monopoly: An article by a friend of the show, Jim Wang on his former website, Bargineering.com.

Learn lessons from millionaire Laurie Itkin in our “Better Know a Millionaire” show. Laurie explains how she became a millionaire before the age of 40. This is the first episode of our ongoing series, “Better Know a Millionaire.” (Obviously a total ripoff of Colbert’s Better Know a District…or homage — that’s better). About Laurie Itkin She is the founder of TheOptionsLady.com — A site devoted to teaching women and couples how to control their finances, overcome fear of investing and grow their money. Laurie is the author of “Every Woman Should Know Her Options,” a book on investing that details how she built a million dollar stock portfolio before the age of 40. At 16 Laurie inherited $1600 from her grandmother. Instead of blowing the money on teenage things, she bought 40 shares of Starbucks. Laurie is a regular contributor to DailyWorth.com and StilettosOnTheGlassCeiling.com. Laurie graduated from The Wharton School Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Laurie currently works as a personal finance advisor and resides in Southern California. Show Notes Omission Pale Ale Gluten Free Beer by Widmer Brothers: Andrew claims that it was pretty good, so I’ll take him at his word. Traditional Medicinals Organic Lemon Echinacea Throat Coat Herbal Tea: Wow! That’s a mouthful, but it’s the tea I started drinking when I feel a sore throat developing. Really tastes good without sugar, which is great.

It’s Mother’s Day.  Matt and Andrew interview their mom’s to find out what financial lessons they’ve learned. This is a very personal episode for us at Listen Money Matters. Both Andrew and I sat down, face to face, with our moms and talked to them about their past experiences with money. I know for me, it was a very endearing event as I’m sure it was for Andrew. We found out a lot about what made our moms so good with money. I want to keep this short because it’s Mother’s Day and you should be spending time with your mom or a mom that you know and respect, no matter who it is. Listen to the episode below and let us know what you thought of it.

Investing can be confusing, especially if you are a beginner. Bulls and bears, buy or hold, investing even has its own language! But is investing something anyone can DIY or do you need a financial advisor? 79% of professional money managers cannot beat the market average. So unless you happen to find one in the other 21%, why should you give them a slice of your money via the fees they charge? A financial advisor takes a cut regardless of whether he/she makes you money or loses you money. So if you could probably do as well by throwing a dart at the stock page of the Wall Street Journal, what is stopping you from being your own financial advisor? Time. You’re busy, we all are. But if you make $20 an hour calculate out how much time you would need to spend to do this yourself versus how much you are paying a financial advisor in fees. It will most likely come out that you could do it yourself cheaper. Fear. Hiding your money under the mattress is less scary, but it is not going to grow your wealth. Lack of knowledge. If you don’t know what you’re doing, what makes you think you have the knowledge to find someone who does? Investing is not rocket surgery. Every possible resource is available to you via books, the internet, and most helpfully, Listen, Money Matters! If they’re so good, why are they dealing with your money instead of growing their own Scrooge McDuck like pile? Financial advisors make a living off the fear and ignorance of the average investor. No one will care more about your money than you. Show Notes SeekingAlpha.com: A crowdsourced platform that focuses on sharing top investment ideas. Betterment: A DIY investing tool.

How many cars have you owned over the years? Is it more than seven? That’s how many Matt has owned. And he learned a thing or two. These are the lessons learned from owning seven cars. Some learned the hard way! * Dodge Shadow * Ford Ranger * Chevy Blazer * Jeep Wrangler. No radio, speakers or back seat. * Honda Civic Sedan * BMW 328 xi * Honda Civic Two Door Coupe Lessons Learned * If you have assholes for friends, don’t give them the keys to your car. * Never leave your car at your dad’s cousin’s shop. * Don’t buy 50 pounds of popcorn to fill the back of your Ford Ranger and drive around town. Could be epic but you’ll get bored and do something else before you carry out this awesome plan. * A car has one purpose. To drive you from Point A to Point B. A Honda Civic achieves this just as well as a BMW. * Pay your current car off before you trade it in. * Always put money down when you buy a car. It will lower your monthly payment. * It should take no longer than four years to pay off a car. * Buy practical. How do you know if it’s practical? If it costs more than $100 to replace a single tire, not practical. * Know how much the car you want should cost before you walk into the dealership. Do your research on Edmunds.com, Cars.com, or Autotrader.com. These sites will tell you what the car is worth and the lowest price the dealer can let it go for. * Always buy used. A car depreciates the moment it’s driven off the lot. * Get a warranty. You will pay extra but it will cover major work. * Never lease. You’ll never own the car so always have a car payment. You have to stay under the mileage so No Great American Road Trip. * Size matters. A V6 engine and four wheel drive will consume more gas. A four cylinder will be much cheaper to fill. Tires and even insurance are more expensive on a bigger car. * Or don’t bother with any of this and get a bike. Cheaper and healthier. (Just added that to annoy Matt!) Show Notes Edmunds: a site that let’s you research prices for new and used vehicles and contains a database of dealer incentives and rebates. Cars.com: is a site that lets you search for information on new and used cars online. Autotrader: is an online marketplace for new and used cars.

Joel Larsgaard from Save Outside the Box shows us easy ways to save money without giving up the things you love. Joel used to be budget adverse. His theory was “bring in more than you spend and don’t buy nice things.” But now with a baby in the mix, Joel wanted to save more while not giving up the things he loves in life, good beer, folk art and travel. Those are his “big three.” Think of all the things you spend money on. Now choose three that you aren’t willing to compromise. Everything else on the list is a place to cut money. Planning a road trip? Is there a bus company in your city that provides transportation? Companies like Megabus charge as little as $1 if you book far enough in advance. You don’t pay for gas, you avoid wear and tear on your car, they have free Wifi so you can watch a movie, do some work, or even just go low tech and read a book rather than paying attention to the road. Cell phones are a place where almost anyone can save money. T-Mobile will now pay the fee to break your contract with another carrier. They also have no roaming charges in more than 120 countries. No more jailbreaking your phone or having to buy a foreign SIM card. Republic Wireless offers contracts for as little as $5 although most plans people are interested in range from $25-40. Spend the 15 minutes to investigate a few options and you could save a few hundred dollars a year. DIY pest control. Depending on your situation, you don’t need to pay $70 a quarter for an exterminator. You can buy your own supplies online for the same $70 or so and have enough equipment to handle it yourself for at least a year. So as Joel advises, when it comes to saving money, think outside the box. We’ll have him back soon for more easy tips you might not have considered. Show Notes SaveOutsideTheBox.com: Joel’s site devoted to find extra money in places you haven’t considered. Megabus: A nearly nation-wide low cost transportation option.

Get Rich Slowly recently posted an article titled, “The Ten Habits of Financially Successful People.”  See how many you share. They surround themselves with positive people You can’t change people but if their negativity is undermining your confidence, you may need to jettison them from your life. We have enough self doubt, we don’t need the people around us reinforcing that. They are not flummoxed by failure. Successful people fail. A lot. As long as you learn from past mistakes and take actionable steps to prevent the same mistakes in the future, that’s all you can to do. Don’t dwell. They manage their time effectively. There are so many books and online tools to help you to make the most of your time. If you feel like all you do is work, there are steps you can take to streamline your day so you can make more money without spending more time. They ignore the opinions of others. This is a bit of a blanket statement. No one needs to crowd source every decision but there should be people in your life whose opinions you value and seek before making major decisions. If not, see the first entry. They have direction and act with purpose. It’s important to have a goal. It’s more important to have a goal and actionable steps to achieve that goal. They focus on big wins. A big win could be a promotion at work, paying off your student loans, or your credit cards. Look after the dollars and the cents will take care of themselves. They do what’s difficult. In other words, don’t procrastinate. Or do procrastinate and that way only the most important shit gets done. We’re still debating this one. They make their own luck. “Luck is the meeting of preparation and opportunity.” You might land a great job interview through a friend who works at the company. That’s the opportunity. You land the job because you researched the company and the position and impressed the interviewer. That’s the preparation. They believe they are responsible for their fortune. There is an internal locus of control. A hippy way of saying “make your own luck”. They grow and change over time. Sometimes you have to realize a failure for what it is, let go and change direction. Or to be able to change your opinion in the face of new information. Twenty years ago, a lot of people thought climate change was bullshit. Now, in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence, you’re an idiot if you don’t allow the irrefutable science to change your opinion. That’s a list of ten. How many are you doing? Send us an e-mail and let us know. Show Notes 10 Habits of Financially Successful People: The blog post the episode is based on. Getting Things Done: David Allen’s book on productivity. MerlinMann.com: Merlin is a renaissance man who has a website and podcast dedicated to finding the time and attention to do your best creative work. Rescue Time: A website that does for your time what Mint.com does for your money. Four Hour Work Week: Tim Ferriss’ book on how to maximize your productivity in the least amount of time and from anywhere in the world. Seth Godin: Seth has authored 17 books on marketing in the digital age.

Everyone should have received or should soon receive your tax return. Today we discuss the best way to make that money work for you. Start or increase your emergency fund. We’re going to do an entire show on this subject but if you don’t have one to two months expenses in an emergency fund, use your return to start one. Pay off your high interest credit card debt. If you’ve been with us for even a few episodes, you do not need to be told this. If you have one dollar of credit card debt, pay it off or at least pay it down. Spend it on something you need. Be honest with yourself though. A want and a need are not the same thing. If you don’t know that, it’s why you’re in debt. Start an itemized savings account. Segment your savings account into separate categories, “vacation,” “clothing” etc. But it’s all one account so you don’t have to keep track of multiples. Refinance your mortgage or make home improvements. You’ll need to run the numbers before deciding if re-fi makes sense. You might save money on your monthly payments but is it more than the up front costs of refinancing? Would it be worthwhile to upgrade your current home with an eye towards selling if you have enough equity or buying another home to live in while renting the current one out? Invest in a tax sheltered account with help from some free tax tools online. Begin a Roth IRA or a 529 account if you have children which is a tax-free savings plan to help pay for college. Donate to charity. We all have something we care about, animal welfare, childhood literacy, the service that a site like Wikipedia or Wikileaks provide. Your donation may not meet the threshold for tax deductible status but donating is one of the few ways spending money can provide a lasting sense of happiness. Get your home business up and running. It takes money to make money and now you have some extra money. Spend it on something you want. Within reason. I know you want an 80 inch whatever TV but as we’ve all learned together, buying stuff does not bring happiness. So the money is better spent on an experience, a nice dinner, a weekend trip, or giving to charity. Unless you’re a real big dick. Show Notes SavingForCollege.com: An explanation of the 529 college savings plan. Mint.com: an on-line money managing tool.

Many of us have debt. Claire Murdough tells us how to pay your debt as quickly and efficiently as possible. You can enter your debt account information and how much you are paying on each. RFZ will generate a graph showing how long it will take to pay the debt, what interest you will incur, and show you how much more quickly you can pay the debt off by adding money to your payments. The site is free but there is an upgrade that allows you to monitor your credit score and to make payments through RFZ. The site has recently added a feature that will allow you to manually enter debts for things like the $200 you borrowed from mom last month. Snowball vs stack method. The snowball method advocates paying off your smallest balance first. The benefit being psychological. You did it, you paid off that Target card! The stacking method requires paying off the highest interest rate debt first. Both methods employ the same tactics of paying only the minimums on the other debts while paying off the prioritized one and once one is paid off, you use the money you were paying towards it, on the next debt down the list. Each has their fans and like everything, finance is individual so use the method that makes the most sense for you. As long as you are paying off your debts, you’re good. Some of Claire’s best advice is to take your ego out of the debt repaying equation. The job you get might not be in the field you’re educated in, but it’s still bringing in money. A second job doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It means you’re doing what needs to be done so you can be debt free. And make some time and a budget for fun during your debt repayment. And when you reach a milestone, treat yourself to something small. A bouquet of flowers or a llama ride! Remember, there is life after debt. Show Notes ReadyForZero.com: A website that helps to manage your debts. Debt Snowball Vs. Debt Stacking: An explanation of snowball vs stacking for debt repayments with pros and cons for each.

Americans don’t get much vacation.  Learn why it’s important to take what you do get.  It will make you a better person and a better employee. The average American gets ten days paid vacation. And that is at the mercy of your employer. The United States is the only industrialized nation in the world that does not legally mandate paid vacation. * Argentina: 14-35 days * Australia: 20-25 days * Denmark: 34 days * France: 25 days * Iceland: 37 days * Japan: 25-35 days * United States: 0 DAYS. Treehouse is an on-line interactive forum that teaches students to make web sites and mobile apps. Treehouse recently implemented a four day, 32 hour work week. And the sky didn’t fall. They didn’t go bankrupt and throw their employees onto the unemployment rolls. The company is showing marked growth. Several Scandinavian countries have four day work weeks and their economies haven’t collapsed. They are among the highest ranked countries for quality of the life in the world. Vacations don’t all have to be multi-week first class European extravaganzas. Domestic flights and even international ones can be affordable, particularly if you’re willing to travel out of season or during off peak times. There are many affordable lodging options. Air B&B, hostels, couch surfing, camping, even home swaps if you live in a desirable area. You don’t even have to get on a plane to take a vacation. Take a few days off work and buy a guide book to the city you already live in. Odds are you haven’t done a lot of the “touristy” things in your own back yard. Make it extra special by staying a night or two in a luxurious hotel. Or hop in the car or board a train for the nearest big city to where you live and play tourist there. New sites, new restaurants, new people. Some companies have a culture of peer pressure. People are afraid to use the paltry vacation they do have because they don’t want to be seen as a slacker by their co-workers or bosses. This is bullshit. Your co-wokers are jealous and your boss gets more than his or her fair share of your time. You are entitled to those few days a year of freedom. Take them, claim them, demand them! And while many people demonize the French for being work shy due to the amount of vacation they get and their 35 hour work week, they are among the most productive workers in the world. http://www.businessinsider.com/are-the-french-the-most-productive-people-in-the-world-2009-8 Happy workers are productive workers. So if your boss gives you stick about taking your vacation, send him or her that link, pack your bags, and say, “au revoir! Bitch.” Show Notes RyanCarson.com: A blog post by Ryan Carson, the founder of Treehouse, about their change to the 4 day work week. TimeDay.org: Take Back Your Time. A movement to encourage people to fight for legally mandated paid vacation. Karoshi: A Wikipedia article detailing Karoshi, death from overwork. Happy: The Movie: An award winning documentary that travels the world to find out what makes us happy. The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World: NPR correspondent Eric Weiner’s book on what constitutes happiness around the world. More: An Academy Award nominated short animated film that depicts the colorless life of a factory worker who gets through h...

What is high frequency trading?  Is it something you need to worry about?  Don’t let the unknown keep you out of the market. When you buy a share, it goes through an exchange. An exchange is a huge data center where multiple computers communicate with each other. The big investment banks have computers in these centers. You call or e-mail your broker and tell them to buy one share of Apple for example. He or she places the order through the exchange. If a big investment bank has a computer in the exchange and your broker does not, the investment bank can make the buy faster. Thus queue jumping your broker and buying it first. The investment bank then sells it to you via your broker at a marginally higher price. That is the millisecond advantage. The price of a stock is determined by supply and demand. When an investment bank gets there first, they falsely inflate demand. IEX is a new exchange not allowing these queue jumps in order to level the playing field and preventing the exchanges from charging extra for front row seats. You can’t choose your exchange. But investment companies pass these losses onto you in the form of higher fees. So be vigilant about your fees. Does this scare you? It shouldn’t, there is nothing you can do. It should piss you off, but not scare you out of the market. By staying in the market, even with this going on, you’ll make more than if that money were stashed under your mattress. Your best protection is to avoid high investing fees. Is this going away? There may be some slow change via legislation. More importantly, the DOJ is investigating it according to Attorney General Eric Holder. It may violate insider trading laws. So what is the takeaway from this episode? The big investment banks are screwing the system. Use smaller ones who charge lower feels like Fidelity, Schwab, or E-Trade. And contact your local member of Congress and demand banker accountability. Show Notes The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap: Matt Taibbi’s book on the growing wealth gap in America. Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt:  Michael Lewis’ book about the creation of an exchange where high frequency trading will garner no advantage.