Peter Dunn: [00:00:00] All right, imagine this. You are rucking, okay? You are fully geared up in your brand new ruck vest. It's a weighted vest, carries up to 60 pounds, but you've got 30 in there. You've acquired said ruck vest about 90 minutes before you're using it. For the first time. And where are you rocking the mountains of Afghanistan?
No, the plains of grand park in Westfield, Indiana, where there are paved paths and soccer lads abound. So I'm rocking, I'm feeling equally very cool and very insecure because. If you happen to be watching the live stream right now, you see me in said ruck vest. It is loaded with thirty pounds of gear. By gear numerous two and a half pound weights.
And as I'm rounding the corner I see a very good friend of mine. Former [00:01:00] board member of your money line. A man I coached soccer with. Dropping off his daughter. To her practice, he sees me from a distance in my tactical weight vest and screams sniper. And then he drops to the ground and makes a scene.
So all of the parents and kids look over at the band and the tactical vest. And it was in that moment that I didn't know whether rucking is a good idea anymore. Alas, I have it on right now. Welcome to the Pete, the planner show everyone. Hello, Kristen. Hello, Dame. Hello, Pete Sergeant Pete. It's tactic. I love this thing.
It is great. I'll tell you this though. Kristen, can we talk muscles? You know any muscle names? Cause I got one for you. The
Peter Dunn (2): trapezius.
Peter Dunn: This thing pulls on the traps.
Kristen Ahlenius: Interesting.
Peter Dunn: So I could look like, a stronger person soon.
Kristen Ahlenius (2): A stronger person.
Damian Dunn: You doing shoulder shrugs while [00:02:00] you're walking around just to try.
They hurt
Peter Dunn: too bad to do that. They, it's a lot of weight. I have this here at our office. I've had people feel it. The other day I brought it in and had them. I wore it into the office just for the joke. And the worst part about this thing and is that it says ethos, that's the brand. It's a Dick's sporting goods sub brand across the front and big red letters.
And it's just, I don't know what I want it to say, like SWAT or Valor, or I don't know what I want it to say. Hi, Sarah, Quincy, Cheryl, Andy, good day to you. Dame, Kristen we have to, yes ma'am.
Kristen Ahlenius (2): I, I have a really quick question. Go ahead. You are someone who tracks your heart rate. As you have multiple fitness watches, I think when you just wear it around, have you noticed that your heart rates just hires like right now, for example,
Peter Dunn: it's funny you say that I don't currently [00:03:00] have on a heart rate monitor.
I usually
Kristen Ahlenius: do. And you don't have one. I've
Peter Dunn (3): stopped with the whoop.
Peter Dunn: Yeah, it just got dumb. Lots of things get dumb in my life. But to your point, yes, Kristen, it does take my heart rate up about to 15 bit bimins more than it would be. Dame, is that how you pronounce it? Yeah, exactly. What do you, hey, hi, Jameson. Hi Dan or Don. Can't see Dan. So should I keep this on the whole show?
Yes. It's good for your cardiovascular health. It might
Damian Dunn: be. It's good for your core, standing there with supporting some extra weight.
Peter Dunn: And like many people in, on the front lines, people out, downrange, if you will, or on the job, I am standing on a gel mat. Kristen, why did you laugh at downrange?
Probably where you shouldn't stand. No, but that's what you say when you're out You're [00:04:00] in the, you're downrange. That's a military term we use. Okay. So let's get started with the show. We gotta go quick today. We gotta be out by the top of the hour. These two people have. Something imp. Important stuff.
Here's the thing though, you guys get off the air. I could carry this rocket ship. Sure. Did you say rocket ship?
Peter Dunn (3): That's right. Okay.
Peter Dunn: Okay. I'm not prepared except for a hostage situation. , . Have you started putting anything in those pockets yet? There's weight actually. I put a granola bar in one and then some.
And what
Kristen Ahlenius (2): electrolyte tabs and
Peter Dunn: yeah, a Snickers, some band aids, some pork belly as I laugh. My belly bounces it off of me.
Okay. If you are [00:05:00] not getting the visual and you're a podcast listener, go to, please get the visual. Go to your moneyline. com slash beat the planner. I don't know how long it would have lasted, this thing. Okay, let's go. Let's start the show in 3, 2, 1. This week on the Pete, the planet show, we answer your money questions.
Here's how the show sometimes works. You email us at ask Pete at Pete, the planner. com that's asked Pete at Pete, the planner. com. And my cadre of experts. Answers the call. Damian Dunn, Kristen Elenius, join me. Hello, friends. Hello, Pete. All so for years, we've been waiting to use this question on the air, but every week within those years, we keep pushing it back.
We do. And today we get to that question. By the way, Kristen, is it the question about college? Is that the one?
Kristen Ahlenius (2): The one that starts, hi, Kristen and company.
Peter Dunn: They all start that way. From Chuck?
Kristen Ahlenius (2): Yeah.
Peter Dunn: [00:06:00] Okay, great. Hi, Kristen and company. Kristen and co, to be more exact. I have twin girls born in 2013.
Dame, how old does that make them? Quick. 11 ish. Could be. I live in Indiana. Kristen, what does that make the person's nickname? I don't know. A Hoosier. Hoosier. So I've been taking advantage of the 20 percent tax credit every year. Initially I just had one combined 520 an account for them, but both But when they were in kindergarten in 2018, I created 520 an accounts for each girl.
They both started with 20, 000 in 2018 and as a little experiment, I invested one girl's contributions in the 2020 33 target date fund. And I invested her twin sister's contribution S and P 500. I've been contributing enough to get the max trick tax credit each year. It was 5k. Now it's 7, 500. I, this is the best Kristen.
So do you choose which twin you like [00:07:00] better and then they get the S and P or what do you do here?
Kristen Ahlenius: Yeah, apparently this parent has favorites.
Peter Dunn: Fast forward to 2024. They're approaching middle school and here are the midterm results of my little evil experiment. I added evil. The target date kid has a balance of 73, 000 while the S& P 500 kid has a balance of 96, 000.
Is that cruel that we're laughing so hard at that? Cause that's really funny. No. I plan to continue contributing 7, 500 a year, another 529s so we can reach the new max of 1, 500 tax credit blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I think we may end up with a neighborhood of 2, 000, 200, 000 to 250, 000 per kids.
Still too early to know career plans. They want to be anything from hairstylist to Caitlin Clark protege's same.
Do I want to be Caitlin Clark's protege? Or hairstylist. Sure. And of course, every tween's dream job of a YouTube star [00:08:00] like yours, truly. These highest balances have me wondering, should we be cautious about over saving? Damn. I think we capture the essence of it there. Can I just maybe stop? There's more and it's witty and lovely.
So Chuck, thanks for your question. Damn, this is a situation I think about for myself here. I know my daughter's balance. She got about three years left. I don't know what's going to happen. I know where she's going to go. My son, it's got seven years. What do we do? Keep saving
Damian Dunn: you keep saving Pete.
That's all there is to it I mean, it's fortunate enough to be able to put some money away for your kids There's a high likelihood that they're gonna spend every dime of that in college cost by the time they get there And if they don't You know, there's some other options that you can use for that cash in the long run.
If you don't necessarily need that money to catch yourself up on other savings goals yourself, whether that's retirement or that's emergency fund or whatever, just keep putting it [00:09:00] away. That money is going to get used for education at some point in the future or a Roth IRA potentially, or take it out and pay a little bit of penalty and tax on it.
Do whatever the heck you want with it, but I'm not too worried about over saving at a 529. That's one of the least concerns I have. For my financial situation.
Peter Dunn: Chris and you were a certified financial planner and other things, by the way, announcements coming soon. I want to give you my strategy that's slightly different from what the bald man said.
Much in the line of what the bald man said, but then for me at some point I am going to pump the brakes, pee the bees if you will. And I'm going, and I'm going to just divert the new savings into something more versatile. Less restrictive once I feel like I've reached a level of which I don't know if they get a little bit of a scholarship for dancing or whatever it is then I don't want to put myself in a restrictive position.
Is that a reasonable strategy?
Kristen Ahlenius (2): I think it sounds reasonable for me. When I think about these questions, [00:10:00] I come at it from the Maybe this is really revealing about my personality. I come at it from the worst case scenario. Yeah. Yeah. I've noticed that I've known some of that. What is what's the worst case scenario?
If you stop contributing to the five 29 and put the money in another vehicle. So we didn't read some of the like supplementary info, but they're doing well. They can objectively afford to do this. They feel that they should do this. Okay. So to your point, Pete, if they pump the brakes on the five 29s and they put the money in an investment account, worst case scenario is, or a brokerage account, they lose the tax credit for Indiana, right?
Peter Dunn: Yeah, that's that's my thinking of the downfall of my strategy that I'll stop maxing out the credit
At some point if I do that to Dame What's better to not max out the credit or have flexibility or does it feel like six
Damian Dunn: one half dozen the other? I mean if you're concerned about what happens if they get a scholarship you can take money out of 529 up to the amount of the scholarship penalty [00:11:00] free
Peter Dunn: Say that again. You lost my brain.
Damian Dunn: If your kid gets a scholarship and you don't need all of the money left over in the five 29, you can take money out of the five 29. That's equal to the amount of the scholarship penalty free. That counts as technically it's a non qualified withdrawal, but it avoids the penalty.
I don't know if I knew
Peter Dunn: that,
Kristen Ahlenius: but more,
Peter Dunn: this is why I don't have a CFP. I just have a PhD point.
Damian Dunn: Flexibility is amazing. I don't put money into a non qualified account or whatever and spend it on maybe you need transfer. Maybe one of your kids goes off to school a long way away and you need help getting them back and forth for transportation purposes.
529 doesn't cover that. You can use money in a qualified non qualified account for, just things that are outside of the coverage of a normal 529. So flexibility is great. And of course it doesn't have to be used for educational purposes either. So I'm, I love non qualified accounts. I think everybody that's doing everything they should already, as far as preparing [00:12:00] for retirement and education purposes, if they've got a little extra money, non qualified accounts, a great place to put some cash, don't overlook the usefulness of a 529.
I think. They're really good for pretty much all things education.
Peter Dunn: Kristen, with two minutes left, aren't we all burying the lead here of what your real hot take to this entire situation is? ?
Kristen Ahlenius: What?
Peter Dunn: Don't what me? What? You know exactly what,
Kristen Ahlenius: what's my hot take?
Peter Dunn: Do you just not think it's a hot take? Or do you not remember what the hot take is?
Because I wanna be I all things. About saving for education.
Kristen Ahlenius (2): If they can objectively afford it, it's different.
Peter Dunn: You've never qualified it that way.
Kristen Ahlenius (2): I'm pretty sure that just last week I qualified it that way. Who's listening? Not you!
Peter Dunn: Yeah. Kristen, one of your perspectives is that part of the issue here is that when tighter than Chuck's situation, when things are just a little tighter than Chuck's or a lot tighter than Chuck's [00:13:00] situation, then you should feel no obligation.
At all to save for college. That's what I believe you wrote in blood on our walls here at the new office.
Kristen Ahlenius (2): I did actually. I'm very firm in that stance, but this, you guys, the situation's totally different. They can objectively afford to do this. Seems like they're doing well in other areas and have an opportunity to help their children launch into adulthood from an advantage place financially.
And I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
Peter Dunn: Again, I can't disagree with your perspective. It's your perspective, right? I think, as Kristen, the cost of education is growing so quickly that a person's career starts in a really rough spot if they don't have student loans under control.
But I guess to your point, you've also countered this in the past and you're right by saying, great counsel them to not take on such an expensive education. There it is. And there it is. And then we go to break. Coming up after the break, Kristen's [00:14:00] on the TikTok looking at the social media videos and she found one the other day that has her head spinning.
Another hot take? We'll stay tuned and find out. I'm Pete the Planner. This is Kristen and Co. We'll be right back. Jason, I am wearing my Ruckvest, which is a weighted vest, which has my fitness at a 10 out of 30.
Kristen Ahlenius: Do you see why Jeremiah was late
Peter Dunn: when I was throwing beans, running beans,
Kristen Ahlenius: you forgot your phrase already.
Peter Dunn: I thought it was throwing beans. I like throwing beans. Hold on. I need to take this off. I'm sweating. Okay. That's ridiculous. My left armpit. It's, there's beaded sweat.
Damian Dunn: That's enough. Go take it off.
Just stop your train of thought. Go take it off. Rick
Peter Dunn (3): swings. Hey, Rick, look at my back. Hey, buddy. Hey, Rook. Big Rook. Hey, pal. Hey, buddy. You get me?
Kristen Ahlenius (2): I love how Dame just parented his [00:15:00] dad.
Damian Dunn: Yeah so you reach that point, you reach that point in your life where you end up
Peter Dunn: parenting your parents.
Peter Dunn (2): Yeah,
Peter Dunn: I feel like the next time I'm rucking while my son's at soccer training and there's all these parents around in their athleisure my hope is someone goes, Officer!
And tries to, ask me to save a cat or something, or, an AKC prized dog. Alright, let me take this off. I gotta take my headphones off. You guys entertain people. Yeah.
Kristen Ahlenius (2): Dame, do you want to tell the people anything about this week?
Damian Dunn: No. You're gonna have to be a little bit less mysterious.
Kristen Ahlenius (2): That, 30 years ago yesterday was a really big day.
Damian Dunn: No, I'm still not following you. Sorry. I'm 47.
Kristen Ahlenius: I was trying to lie for you.
Damian Dunn: Oh yeah. I had a birthday, everybody. Kristen. Oh yeah. Kristen was trying to say that I was only 30, which nobody in their right mind would believe if they're watching a live stream and probably listening based on a lot of my comments.
No, yeah, I had a birthday this week. Okay.
Peter Dunn: Dave, my birthday wishes to you were [00:16:00] saying, son, when I first looked into your eyes when you were born, someday I imagined that you'd know Krav Maga and live stream from a barn. And both those things have come true. And I'm very proud of you.
Damian Dunn: Knocking it out of the park.
Thanks, Deb.
Peter Dunn: You're welcome. Couldn't have done it without
Damian Dunn: you. 529. Do you guys think I should get some velcro patches for the Rockfest? I will absolutely send you some morale patches if you want some. What are their morale patches Google morale patches?
Peter Dunn: Yeah,
Damian Dunn: I learned something
Peter Dunn: from you guys every week
Kristen Ahlenius (2): Have you never been to a mission barbecue?
Peter Dunn: No, I've been to the Wheeler mission Indianapolis sure, Yeah, I want to, how about, can I get like a Punisher? Sure, you can if you want, I
Damian Dunn: mean, people will roll their eyes looking at you.
Peter Dunn: Is there anything less on brand for me than having a Punisher patch on a don't tread on me.
Are they, do they sell ones [00:17:00] that say tread on me? I'm a weakling. Cause I'll wear it. I might. Stop. Tread all you like, just wipe your feet first. I don't think that would sell many What are they called? Valor patches? Morale patches. Oh boy, I conflated those two. Let's get started in 3, 2, 1. Back on the Pete the Planner Show, Kristen, you spent hours and Hours on social media, wasting away your life and the good breath that the Lord gave you being entertained by influencers and ne'er do wells.
And recently you said to me, man, I disagreed with one of these people giving unsolicited opinions, and I want to talk about it on this here media platform. And it's with that. I toss it to you.
Kristen Ahlenius: Oh my. What a setup, Pete. Thank
Kristen Ahlenius (2): you for that. So I saw this take from a financial planner who, [00:18:00] without any additional context, said everyone should have a financial planner.
And I just, I hate that
Peter Dunn: Oh H word in my house. You would have a timeout with the H word.
Kristen Ahlenius (2): Oh,
Kristen Ahlenius: that's fine.
Peter Dunn: You don't like the idea. It's just, it's one of those absolutes that people get in trouble with when they give a mass advice in the media, like you should always, or you should never, or everyone like that.
Is it just simply based on that? Is that your disagreement?
Kristen Ahlenius (2): It's based in that it's rooted in without giving additional context about this particular person. I think it's a pretty privileged statement based on some other things that they talk about and that I've seen. And I just think that it makes.
While I don't disagree with the sentiment of everyone should be better and more informed about their financial life and their financial decision making, that doesn't [00:19:00] make the industry more approachable when you make comments like that. And in the work that we do each and every day, we know that conversations about money in general need to be more approachable.
Who
Peter Dunn: just took a screenshot? Dave, did you hear
Kristen Ahlenius (2): that? Everyone heard
Peter Dunn: that. What exactly are you Oh, you're sharing the image to our Slack channel. You being bored. Wait, Dave, Kristen's giving this unbelievable point and then you're sending me donut
Damian Dunn: patches for my vest. It was worth it. Kristen likes it.
She laughed out loud. So take that. Oh boy. So let me make a suggestion or I don't know. Let me see if this hits different. Everyone should have access to a financial, I put it, I can't figure out the right word to put their financial planners too strong, but a financial guru is not right. Not coach, not professional.
Would you [00:20:00] feel better if it went that way? Okay.
Kristen Ahlenius (2): But there, that's a totally different, you're saying everyone should have access and that's like the conversation we had a couple weeks ago about should everyone be able to objectively afford to buy a home? Oh, my word. And that's it's we're talking about 2 totally different things is should people be able to do this?
Should they be able to be financially? Of course they should, but that's not the reality that we live in. And by making these statements. You make it even harder for the people who are currently not participating in this space.
Damian Dunn: I have a thought. I have a thought. Yeah.
Peter Dunn: Let's I actually agree with Kristen here.
Let's go to an example, as some people call it. If this was parenthetical, it would say E period G period. Okay. Okay.
Peter Dunn (2): Okay.
Peter Dunn: What? No, anyway, you've got a single parent. [00:21:00] Okay, you got this dude. His name is Steven. I don't know I just went with it with a V not a pH because that's a little too lofty here additional Steven is Been through a relationship transition He's got three kids.
He's the primary caregiver makes 44, 000 a year. Okay. He's got a car loan. He's got some debt from the marriage. And he's literally living paycheck to paycheck. Steven does not need to employ. A financial planner at all correct at all in the idea that a financial planner says Stephen needs a financial planner is absurd I mean it is absurd you could even argue that even if he could afford it which breaks the whole thing He shouldn't have a financial planner.
He doesn't need a [00:22:00] financial planner. He needs personal finance help But a financial planner doesn't do that. Generally speaking, they're there generally for things like contingency planning. So yeah, Steven would arguably need life insurance and disability to take care of his three little girls and the guinea pig and the spider monkey that live in the 600 square foot apartment.
He would need those sorts of things. But then the other side of that is it's about wealth management and about making plans work out. Steven and this example would not need that. So I think the idea that everyone needs a financial planner is a self serving being incredibly myopic
Peter Dunn (3): and see completely wrong.
Damian Dunn: Is there any chance that the person who made the social media post, Kristen was not clear on the roles and duties of a financial planner?
Kristen Ahlenius (2): Not even a little.
Damian Dunn: That's funny.
Kristen Ahlenius (2): Not even a little bit. And what I find most ironic about that statement [00:23:00] is the scenario that Pete just put together for us with a person who doesn't have investable assets, this particular individual would not take them on as a client anyway.
So you're saying, yeah, seek out financial planning, but not from me. Somebody else needs to help you. That's what grinds.
Peter Dunn: We just got to one of my biggest beefs. And I'm not talking about the 96 or I'm talking about when we're like, Hey, come work with me. If you've got the right amount of money, like I, I get it.
I know math. I get it. But that has, since the time I was in the industry and I was managing people's money, that has always bothered me. And I've gotten better at understanding it and accepting it. But that's a rough one for me. Dame, especially for someone preaching financial planning for everyone.
Great. Then take a 10 minimum client.
Damian Dunn: Minimums are a sticky subject for a lot of folks who see the financial planning or industry, financial industry, the way we do. [00:24:00] However, I understand why advisors do it. I understand how they try and why they try and shape their business in a certain way. If you're any good at it, there's plenty of people out there to try and make that work.
So you can get away with it. However you are, and this is actually how Pete, you and I got to know each other is because I was super frustrated with the world that is the financial planning industry, how a bunch of people in a very large segment of America are essentially ignored because they don't have access to funds yet that could be investable by a financial advisor.
So I, I get it. I'm not here to disparage financial advisors on how they choose to run their own business, but there is a large group of people that don't have access to qualify professionals because they're not there yet.
Peter Dunn (3): I,
Peter Dunn: I'm trying to. couch this correctly here. Gave an interview within the last six months to a publication about, doesn't matter, [00:25:00] about my regrets professionally.
Okay. And I will say number one, without a doubt is how I marginalized and trivialized people's challenges by giving big, bold advice that doesn't apply to everybody. I regret it. I 100 percent regret it. Regret it. Because in this line of work to hold people's attention, you gotta say spicy things.
It's why people listen to sports radio. It's why arguably people listen to political talk radio. But personal finance should not be filled with hot takes. Because there's more at stake. No one's mental health is suffering greatly over, the local sports team losing. And so you have a hot take about the running back.
But when you get on the air or you hit on social media and you say things like, if you're not doing this, you're doing it wrong. It's just not that simple. And if it were that simple, the problem wouldn't exist. So it's with that, I'm going to calm down. I'm going to have [00:26:00] some chamomile tea, maybe put on some lavender lotion, wrists, and we'll take a break.
I don't, Kristen, don't give me a look. I don't even know what that means myself. I'm Pete, the planner. This is getting weird, but if you've listened to the show, there's more of that after the break. I don't know what that means. I was going and then I stopped. Have we talked about the spicy wing thing I did last night on the air yet?
We
Damian Dunn: discussed it last week and that's when I said you needed to eat them during the presentation and but I don't think we've discussed it. Let's see if I can play a video of me
Peter Dunn: eating that. What? Yesterday as your prep? As the prep video. Okay, let's see where if I can do that. It's not there. How are we doing on time?
I feel like we're moving along pretty good, right? About halfway through the hour. Can you hear that? Okay, give me a half second.
[00:27:00] Okay. Can you hear that?
Damian Dunn: Still no. I feel like I'm at the optometrist one or two.
Can you hear that? I can hear your voice being weird. Can you
Peter Dunn: hear that? No. Okay, never mind. How'd that work? Wonderful. Now I can't hear
Damian Dunn: you. What?
Kristen Ahlenius (2): Nuh
Damian Dunn: testing one, two, three. No,
Kristen Ahlenius (2): he's not serious.
Damian Dunn: No, I.
Okay. Am I back?
Kristen Ahlenius (2): You've always been here. I can hear you. Okay.
Peter Dunn: I tried one last time.
Damian Dunn: Dang it. I was really hoping, Kristen, you were going to go along with it and try and
Kristen Ahlenius (2): continue. We don't have time or that would be funny.
Damian Dunn: Okay. We do got to keep it moving.
Kristen Ahlenius (2): What are we talking about in this segment? I have no idea.
Peter Dunn: Let's just go live. We'll figure it out.
Kristen Ahlenius (2): We could talk about who does need a financial planner. In three,
Peter Dunn: two, one. Back on [00:28:00] the Pete the Planner Show, the show you come to find out who does need a financial planner. Kristen Alanius, Damian Dunn, and Peter Dunn. Relation? None. Maybe. What? Why are you disclaiming me as a
Damian Dunn: relative, Dame?
It's just part, it's who I am now, Pete. You've disclaimed me for so long that I just, I'm not gonna even try anymore to let people know who we, who, how we're related. All right,
Peter Dunn: Kristen before the break, we talked about the idea that not everyone needs a financial planner. Not everyone does. What is the barrier of entry of financial planning?
What do you have to have accomplished or what is the realities of your life that you need in order to say, I'm going to have a financial planner?
Kristen Ahlenius (2): Damien saying that it's money. You got to have money. No, I think it's more about one of our favorite listeners in the comments said that maybe it's more about.
Everyone needs to have a financial plan. Not everyone needs a financial planner. [00:29:00] And I think that I can support that statement, which is that everyone should and has access to have a plan for their personal finances. You can learn, you can improve your financial literacy and everyone should have a financial plan.
Peter Dunn: Yeah. Yeah. Here I'm, I agree with Andy's sentiment who said that in the comments, I agree with your idea there. Dame is looking off to the side. Is it the return of the mouse?
Damian Dunn: No, I was looking for a book that I thought might be a good example. And I don't think it's on the book.
Peter Dunn: So Dame is taking screenshots of donut patches during the show today.
It was looking for books. Did it pertain to the segment?
Damian Dunn: Yes.
Peter Dunn: Okay. Of course it did. Let's do this. Let's do a little role play. Let's act like you found the book, hold it up and illustrate the point with us.
Damian Dunn: I got to figure, I got to remember who wrote it first. Hang on. I feel really bad if I didn't.
Does your barn have a library? I have bookshelf, a couple of bookshelves out here.
Kristen Ahlenius (2): Yeah, it's a barn.
Damian Dunn: You just continue on. I'll, if I find it, I'll let you [00:30:00]
Kristen Ahlenius (2): know. So Pete, when we're talking about financial planning and like what we would generally picture or envision when we're talking about people who need financial planners, I would say a particularly.
Someone who has dependence, but again, objective affordability is the key here, but I would say that's the type of person who needs a financial planner is like whether it's the single parent that you mentioned in the previous segment or like you and Mrs. Planner, like whether you employ that person on an ongoing basis or you have them help you with a one time financial plan.
I do think you should consider sitting down with a financial planner.
Peter Dunn: Okay. So I think we also, and in, in someone may have said it already is you get into the semantics of titles with this. Like a financial planner is a actual pretty specific thing. And a lot of people inappropriately use that phrase and or [00:31:00] title for their own purposes.
Dame. So life insurance experts, professionals, all of Often grab the title financial planner. They used to, I don't know if they still do, or maybe they do in conversation, but not in the written form. People need life insurance before they need a financial planner. So they might go to a air quote, financial planner to get that life insurance.
Is that a reasonable example?
Damian Dunn: Yeah. It is an example of. Checking a box on a financially stable life. Not entirely sure that person qualifies as a financial planner. They might, but they might not. At the same time, they are helping you fulfill one slice of that pie. As we've talked on the show, I don't know how many times Pete, the That term is thrown around way too cavalierly than what I would prefer.
So I, people call themselves financial planners. It's not going to be regulated anytime soon. So if you're working with a financial professional [00:32:00] and know exactly what role they're going to play in your life, and. Just use them for that.
Kristen Ahlenius (2): Would you prefer the scenario that Pete just set up where you talk to someone about life insurance first, because you don't feel like you're necessarily ready for a full financial plan?
I actually would prefer the inverse. Even if you're not sure you're totally ready to have a financial planner. Tell you how much life insurance you need and then to seek out an individual for a specific type of policy, not go to the insurance agent to ask about the insurance directly. Does that make sense?
Damian Dunn: Are we talking ideally? That'd be wonderful if that's how it worked, but we just got done saying how hard it's been for us. going to be for a big group of people to get in front of a qualified financial planner in order to find that out. So I would much rather somebody get what they think is appropriate, or at least what a life insurance needs worksheet tells them as appropriate.
And then if they can back it off or add to a supplement to it after they finally get a chance to talk to a financial planner, great, but I'm not going to [00:33:00] have them sit around and wait to get coverage just because they don't qualify to sit down with a planner.
Peter Dunn: Here's the tough part about this and having been on the other side of this conversation as a financial.
Professional. So you either pay for the financial plan. Here's 2, 000 complete a financial plan. So under that scenario, in the example we set up with Steven and his cornucopia of animals and children that is a non starter. He's not paying two grand for a financial plan. Steven goes to an insurance professional who as a courtesy and theoretically as a path to sell product.
completes a basic financial plan, right? Pretty common. In fact, I'll be honest, part of my career was doing that. Then there's the other side, which is if Steven actually had assets that in order to help them with a financial plan, they just want the asset [00:34:00] management fee and they'll complete a free financial plan as part of those services.
So that's where this also gets tricky is you can pay a financial planner to complete a financial plan three ways. Pay them an outright fee. Which I I gotta be honest. Number two they manage your assets. So they throw in a financial plan. It's okay. I don't always love it. Cause sometimes as my Indianapolis business general column that I turned in today notes, people get distracted https: otter.
ai
And then the other element here is back to the insurance person. If the insurance person's trying to sell you a term or permanent life insurance, and they happen to help you set goals and create a budget and put together an emergency fund, then even though they're not technically a financial planner, You will call them a financial planner.
And that still doesn't satisfy Kristen's [00:35:00] social media person's hot take about everyone needs a financial planner, because what that person meant was everyone needs a high end financial planner, like him, who would also be unwilling to work with people who have no money.
Damian Dunn: Do we want to try and identify like the very person?
Yeah, go ahead. Name her name. I'm not going to do that at least on air. Do we want to identify the very core pieces of what a basic financial plan looks like? If somebody is going to try and figure this out from themselves, what needs to be addressed?
Peter Dunn: Before you do that, let's decide who does it because I wrote it in a column and I have it right here today.
Or what's probably a better idea is if the two certified financial planners on our show probably give the list. What, what do the people want? Do they want my. A cockeyed view of financial planning or do they want these two
Damian Dunn: professionals yours and then Kristen and I can weigh in on whether or not you got it right.
Kristen Ahlenius (2): He already turned the column in. I
Peter Dunn: know.
Damian Dunn: Great. This is the best show.
Peter Dunn: Okay. Ready?
Kristen Ahlenius (2): Yes.
Peter Dunn: Can we just go thumbs up? Thumbs down. Sure. [00:36:00] Set goals. Thumbs up. Okay. Dame, you're going to, it is still a radio show, so you're going to have to verbally thumbs up. Okay. And Kristen will answer first. Create a budget.
Kristen Ahlenius (2): This is what a financial planner should be doing.
Peter Dunn: This is part of a financial plan.
Damian Dunn: Basic financial plan.
Kristen Ahlenius (2): In practice, thumbs down.
Damian Dunn: Okay, Dame. I love the concept. Thumbs up for the concept in practice. Maybe not for a financial plan. I'm right in the middle.
Peter Dunn: We've got 40 seconds left, so tighten up your answers.
Peter Dunn (2): Okay.
Peter Dunn: Build an emergency fund.
Damian Dunn: Thumbs up. Keep it going. Tighten up your answers. Come on. Reduce debt. Thumbs down. Thumbs up.
Peter Dunn: Get insurance. Thumbs up. Save for retirement. Thumbs up. Consider tax planning. Thumbs up. Create an estate plan. Thumbs up. Man, I don't know about you guys, but it seems like Kristen does [00:37:00] not want to work with people without money.
That's my takeaway. I think you're right. That was fun. Speaking of fun, let's come back with the biggest waste of money of the week. I like this one. I like this one. It's next on The Pizza Planner Show. Two seconds over. Less Mellencamp for the people.
Kristen Ahlenius: You guys haven't said that in a long time.
Peter Dunn: Yeah, that's true. We haven't. I like it though. Okay. Let me, man, let's keep it rolling. We're doing good on time here.
Peter Dunn (2): Okay.
Peter Dunn: Oh, I was going to talk to that social media post. I actually named the show on the live stream today that we're going to talk about. Should you invest in social media?
Oh, how about this? Hey, if you're here today, because I said in the comments today, we're going to talk about, should you invest in social media? Sorry, we're not going to talk about that, but I hope you enjoy the show. [00:38:00] Sorry.
Damian Dunn: Okay, Dan, whoa, Dan went away and he's back. I hit the wrong button I tried to mute so I could chew some ice real quick hit the camera button.
Peter Dunn: Sorry Can guys can we be in a moment of honesty and in trust here for a moment?
Kristen Ahlenius (2): Probably not
Peter Dunn: My left eye is pulsing and I think it's from this the sedentary workout. I had a few minutes ago like I think it's pumping out. It's like it's burning calories. It's just like You're going to be fit.
I feel like my core is tightening and so my eyes pulsing. Is that a thing? Absolutely. Kristen?
Kristen Ahlenius: Yeah.
Kristen Ahlenius (2): Hey Pete, I have an extra registration for tomorrow's half marathon. You could wear your vest and do the half as a ruck.
Peter Dunn: I would take you up on that. Unfortunately, I'm driving three hours for a youth soccer game.
All right, let's get started. Don't get Kristen started on that. She'll get very upset. That's true. Very upset. [00:39:00] Okay, here we go. And three, two, one. This week's biggest waste of money of the week right here on the Pete the Planner show is the King Kennedy bespoke reclaimed rug duffel bag. As items that go underfoot, rugs naturally take a lot of abuse that makes them ideal as a building block for luggage like King Kennedy's duffel bag.
Timeout. I kinda love that copy. Really? Yeah, let me do it again. I'll do less affect. Okay. It's really good. As items that go underfoot, rugs naturally take a lot of abuse. That makes them ideal as a building block for luggage like King Kennedy's duffel bag. I think it's good copy. Okay. It's crafted from antique Caucasian rugs.[00:40:00]
Pete loves this copy. Wow. All right. Time out. I rescind my copy comments from antique Caucasian rugs. Are they bad dancers? Are the rugs woven in the late 1800s. So not quite as tough as the synthetic ones from the local home depot and supple Italian leather. By the nature of their construction, each one is unique, but they share an interior zip pocket, zippered closure, and an included shoulder strap, luggage tag, and dust bag.
That is the blomb up for grabs here today. And I am so thrown from an antique Caucasian rugs.
Kristen Ahlenius (2): This is so all over the place. Why does a rug need a dust
Damian Dunn: bag? Exactly, you just got done saying how tough it is because it spends time underfoot, but you need a rug, a bag to keep your tough bag in? That is an incredible,
Peter Dunn: [00:41:00] incredible point.
We all know how tough Caucasian rugs are. Man, I got some googling to do when we're done today. All right, Kristen, One of the world's foremost Caucasian rugs experts. That's me. What do you think this here traveler bag
Kristen Ahlenius (2): costs? This traveler bag is 700.
Peter Dunn: Oh crap. You can see that in the white of your eyes.
Damian Dunn: The name who's the manufacturer of this? It sounded pretentious.
Peter Dunn: King Kennedy bespoke reclaimed rug duffel bag made from Caucasian rugs. This is like a, this is like a 2, 000 bag. As Jamison notes, Pete and Dame get hair pieces. They would be called Caucasian rugs.
Well done, sir. Deep in the heart of Texas. Thank you, Jamison. 4, 200. American [00:42:00] dollars.
Damian Dunn: That's ludicrous. It's a do you, do you have to hang this bag up and beat it to get the dust out every once in a while? Like you, you do old rug, or, I don't
Peter Dunn: know, like he, I love a good weekender, a good weekender bag.
You throw some things in there and weekend. $4,200. It's wild Dame, what's in the news this
Damian Dunn: week? In a special report on the booming U. S. economy, the Economist revealed some eye popping statistics that show how since the 1990s, America has Katie Ledecky ed the field when it comes to economic performance.
In 1990, the U. S. accounted for 40 percent of the GDP of the G7 group of wealthy countries. Today, it makes up roughly half. Economic output in the U. S. per person is 40 percent higher than in Western Europe and Canada, and 60 percent higher than in Japan. Average wages in Mississippi, the poorest state in the U.
S., are higher than the average wages [00:43:00] in Germany, Canada, and Britain. What is the American economy's secret sauce? According to The Economist, factors include its large consumer market, tech innovation, the world's most sophisticated financial markets, and a deep labor pool coming from its first rate universities.
Peter Dunn: I have such a hot political take I want to share right now, but I am choosing not to.
Damian Dunn: Oh, it's so
Peter Dunn: hot. Like after the show, if you guys had time, I'd bring it up to you and we'd probably argue about it a little bit.
Damian Dunn: I think we will because we're going to wrap this up
Peter Dunn: in about, yeah. I just I'll let people draw their own conclusions, but I just want to point out a deep labor pool from universities there's a deep labor pool that is contributing to very nice GDP that are not from universities.
You know what I mean? Read into that however you like.
Damian Dunn: But no, I'd. Totally agree with you on that. And I guess we're both getting morale patches for that. Antone's muted [00:44:00] peach fuzz is getting blown off the color sample wall because gold is so back, baby. The precious metal touched another record high this week.
And experts say the rally could continue potentially passing. Pete, do you know what gold is announced right now?
Peter Dunn: It's just, like 1 16th of a pound. Yeah,
Damian Dunn: how much per dollars per ounce? Are we at 3200? I don't know. 2, 800 an ounce could potentially have 2, 800 an ounce in the weeks leading up to the presidential election.
Why? Along with consuming zebra cakes people tend to buy gold when things feel uncertain. Despite the fed's quelling recession fears and reports that the U. S. economy is doing great. There's still a lot of Tumultuous presidential election. Lingering concerns about inflation rising geopolitical tensions in Ukraine in the Middle East.
Oh my, through all that gold's up nearly 31% this year.
Peter Dunn: Speaking of, let's go through and rank our favorite little Debbie snack
Damian Dunn: cakes. I have a hard time figuring out which is [00:45:00] Hostess sometimes and which is Little Debbie,
Peter Dunn: let this body, this temple help you with that. This is something of interest to Pete.
A number one, Nutty Bars. It's just Okay. Kristen, what's your number one Little Debbie selection?
Kristen Ahlenius (2): A zebra cake for sure.
Peter Dunn: There's our delicious name, number one. A double decker oatmeal cream pie. Okay, fair enough. It sounds like a little bit of a mutant, but I gotcha. How about the, I think, you don't see them all the time, the peanut butter bars, where you could like bite, it was like a peanut butter log.
It was like a poor man's peanut butter Twix. You bite off the shell and there would just be this peanut butter log on cookie. That is delicious.
Kristen Ahlenius (2): I don't know if I've had one of those. I think
Peter Dunn: you're making that up. No with all your mid show Googling, look it up, Billy. No, you can't.
Damian Dunn: I'm not going to do that.
Peter Dunn: I'll send you a okay, next. What else do you got?
Kristen Ahlenius (2): Have you had the ice creams? The little Debbie ice creams? No. No. No. They're all [00:46:00] very good
Peter Dunn: ice cream. Ice cream.
Kristen Ahlenius (2): Yeah. They put the like pieces of the snack cakes in the ice cream. I had the cream pie is very good. And Swiss roll is very good.
Peter Dunn: Jameson notes in the chat. He says, donut sticks or star crunch. I've had Jameson. You contributed so much to the show, not only today, but over the years, the star crunch take is awful. Star Crunches are the worst confection in the history of confections.
Damian Dunn: Terrible. So much
Peter Dunn: googling to
Damian Dunn: do after this. Yeah. Oh my gosh.
All right, Dane, what else is the news? Pete, we've talked about this before. If history is any indication, investors should hope the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in the coming series. Turns out the stock market tends to see higher returns in the subsequent month. Quarter and year after a team from the National League wins the World Series than if an American League team wins.
On average, since 1957, the S& P 500 has gained an average of 15 percent annually after a National League team won, while it only increased 9 percent on average after an American League team [00:47:00] won. Fun fact, though, no team has caught more stray foul balls than Philadelphia. Every team. Based in Philly has had a detrimental effect off the market.
If they win, it's a canary in the coal mine. For the record, Philly teams won in 2008, 1980 and 1929. Yikes.
Peter Dunn: Dan, are you suggesting that who wins the World Series is going to have a bigger impact on the markets then? Oh, I don't know. Who wins the presidential election this year? Clearly, that's what I'm suggesting.
Yeah, he's a CFP. Yeah.
Damian Dunn: Registered trademark. Any more news, sir? Sales of previously occupied U. S. homes slowed in September to the weakest annual pace in nearly 14 years, even as mortgage rates eased and the supply of properties on the market continued to climb.
Peter Dunn (3): What? Existing home sales
Damian Dunn: fell 1 percent last month from August.
Kristen Ahlenius (2): Good. Chris, you'll be able to afford one.
Peter Dunn: All right. That's it. That's the show. Here's what we're doing [00:48:00] next week on the show. Are you guys both here? I think so. He's the day after Halloween. Oh I'll be sleeping it off. We're making presidential election predictions.
Kristen Ahlenius (2): No.
Peter Dunn: Yes, we are. Yes, we are. And you reveal your votes. All right, sending you good vibes because good vibes are all that's in the budget.
This is The Pete the Planter Show and we hope your life is good from here. I don't know
Damian Dunn: why I said that.
Kristen Ahlenius: Can't you reveal your votes?
Damian Dunn: I I will be happy to participate, but much like many of the swing states, I will have to wait 10 to 14 days after the election to be able to reveal my vote because it will take that long for me to tabulate my votes.
Peter Dunn: I, I can't say there's a Period of American history. I'm looking forward to less than the next several weeks. I just, I don't, everything's going so well in [00:49:00] my life.
Like just the. It's like almost guaranteed chaos.
Damian Dunn: You better get some of those morale patches for your vest, so people take you a little bit more seriously.
Peter Dunn: I think what bothers me the most, maybe, I don't know, maybe I'm being, me and Pollyanna here, but we're just going to be more divided in a week or two weeks.
You know what I mean? It's that's the worst part. It's, something's going to happen. And no matter what that something is, we're all madder at each other than we were before.
Kristen Ahlenius (2): Yeah,
Peter Dunn: I hate that. That's stolen valor. I don't actually, it's not Dave. I am back on your guy though. Are you? Oh my gosh. He's doing shorts now on YouTube.
So you don't have to watch his pretty long videos. They're very long. And he is, he's a tough man. He'll go up to someone like you said on this thing, you were whatever. And you're not, and you better stop. Do you hear [00:50:00] me? And the person's yeah, okay.
All right. You guys have a thing. You guys got plenty of time to go do it.
Peter Dunn (2): Yay.
Peter Dunn: Everyone else how about we give you eight minutes back to your day? I hate that. That's why I say it to you every time we end a meeting early. Unfortunately, we always run over because of all the yapping. All right, everybody.
Just kidding. Stay getting money.
