00:04
Peter Dunn
Well, hello there. Since the last time we met, the banking system collapsed. I'm just kidding, everyone. It's Peter Dunn. Pete, the planner. That was a little alarmist. Kristen's back from vacation. Hello, Kristen.
00:15
Kristen Ahlenius
Hello.
00:15
Peter Dunn
Hello, Dame with a puffin hoodie on.
00:19
Damian Dunn
So look at that.
00:21
Peter Dunn
Yeah, it looks good. A couple quick notes before we start the show. It's a quick show today. Sorry, Jeremiah. Quick show today, dame. First of all, I saw him in person for the first time in a long time this week. He looks amazing. He looks amazing. Physically amazing. Looks very healthy and nice. And then second, my entire executive team to mock me at our executive retreat this week all wore the puffin sweatshirt. They procured it and wore it and surprised me, and it was hilarious. And so the Puffin saga continues.
00:54
Damian Dunn
We couldn't buy them locally. They literally went to the store that sells them, and they said they didn't have any because they've sold a lot of them. Recently. There was a run on the Puffin sweatshirt locally, and we had to get them online.
01:08
Peter Dunn
Okay, here we go. Oh, quick show today again. Like, seriously, super quick show. Sorry about you. Sorry about any of that means. Three, two, one. This week on the Pete the Planner Show, we answer your money questions. Here's how the show works. You email us, askpete@petetheplanner.com that's, ask Pete@petetheplanner.com, and we will read your email. Then we will answer your email, and then you will be a millionaire. No, that's not how it works. We'll just help you out. We'd like to, of course, introduce my co-host, Kristen Ahlenius, the director of Education at Your Money Line, and Damian Dunn, the vice president of advice at Your Money Line friends. We also want to welcome our newest affiliate, WGCL in Bloomington, Indiana, to the Pete Planner Radio Network. Hello, everyone.
01:58
Damian Dunn
Hello.
01:59
Peter Dunn
That was lovely. Okay, so since we last met oh, my gosh. There was nearly a banking system collapse. So we're going to talk about what's going on. Should you be worried about your money? In what ways can this impact you? And then we're going to talk about I think we're going to have different opinions. Should the government have stepped in and saved Silicon Valley Bank? And what's the other one? Signature or making that up?
02:27
Damian Dunn
Signature bank first, something or other. Who knows? Nobody knows.
02:30
Peter Dunn
And then an email from an emailer named Ian who made sure we knew how to pronounce the word Ian. There's only two ways to pronounce Ian. There's Yon and Ian based on the spelling. And we're going with Ian. All right. What?
02:47
Damian Dunn
That could have been Ian.
02:49
Peter Dunn
That's true. Like I and Zeering from Beverly Hills 920. Yeah, the show is going well so far. So last Thursday and Friday was chaotic. So much so that Dame and I Kristen, was on vacation. Dame and I made the decision as went to air last week. We are actually not going to talk about the banking collapse till we know more. It was very hard and visceral. And the reality is we had several friends who banked at Silicon Valley Bank, several that had, because they own companies, tens of millions of dollars on the line. So it was a really stressful thing that we chose not to talk about last week until we know more. Now we know a lot more. And so, Kristen, I want to start here today, now that we are now on Friday, St. Patrick's Day, what should the average person respectfully care about their money as it relates to banking?
03:48
Peter Dunn
Right. What is there a concern? Should there be a concern for the.
03:52
Kristen Ahlenius
Average everyday Joe, for the average person, me and you? I don't personally think that there's anything to be worried about yet, but I do think it's something to keep your eye on because some things are happening that shouldn't maybe be happening, but the important thing to take away is the importance of FDIC Insurance. I don't know if we want to get into that yet. Yes, so FDIC Insurance is the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and essentially it insures your money at a bank for less than $250,000, and that is by account and by person. So if you're someone who falls within those limits, theory is that you should have nothing to worry about because that money is insured should something happen to the bank that you use.
04:44
Peter Dunn
Yeah. So, Dame, not to call out our listenership, including the three hosts, I don't believe anyone involved in this here podcast is going to have more than $250,000 in a single bank account or if they do what you doing right.
04:58
Damian Dunn
Yeah, 100%. There's very few people outside of businesses they may own. But as individuals that are going to have any issues with the limits that are set up. Especially when you figure out there may be other banks that you can use or other account types you can use to maybe extend that coverage where you need to for your own purposes. So it's not going to be something that the average person is going to run into issues with.
05:24
Peter Dunn
So there really are three types of banks. And forget credit unions right now, no offense, we're just setting them aside for a moment. There's community banks, there's regional banks, and then there's big banks. What we're talking about doesn't impact community banks. As of right now, what we're talking about are regional banks. That is where the risks lie. Silicon Valley Bank regional bank signature bank regional bank first Republic regional Bank And so if you bank at a local bank that's got a couple of branches and it doesn't go beyond the borders of your state, you're probably fine. And I would also note, Kristen, if your bank does fail and you've got $3,000 in your checking account or $800 in your checking account, what's the impact to you from a time standpoint? When do you get access? Should you freak out or is it just stressful?
06:21
Kristen Ahlenius
It would be stressful, especially in our current economic environment. If you're like many and you're living paycheck to paycheck and you don't have access to that money right away, it would absolutely be a stressful situation. But the way I understand it is that the Fed comes in and says, yes, these deposits are insured and then they clear access to the funds. I don't know if it takes a few business don't to be honest. I don't know how long that process is.
06:50
Peter Dunn
Yeah, from my understanding it is just a few business days, if not less. And so Dame, at that point in time you get access to your funds and everything. It's not like your debit card starts getting rejected. You should be good to go correct.
07:04
Damian Dunn
In most cases you'll be able to continue on with your normal financial life as you would in the off chance that your bank and its assets are acquired by another bank. There may be a little bit of transition period, but even then I would have to believe that they would make allowances for your current debit card to remain active until they can get you repapered. Probably isn't the right word, but get you set up on the new banking system and everything is square on that side. So there will be some inconvenience. Almost certainly be some inconvenience. Don't plan on it being weeks and months. For the average person it may be a few days, but it should be a pretty straightforward process.
07:46
Peter Dunn
Do you feel Dame, that for people that are really concerned that our goal is not to talk people out of concern, it's just sort of try to level set. But if people have extra level of concern, theoretically shouldn't be those people that have 1000 $1,500 in cash in a safe at their house. Is that the step to then fully mitigate the challenge?
08:08
Damian Dunn
Depends on what you need that money for immediately. If you need it to pay bills, having cash in your safe may not help you all that much because if you got to send that money across the country or wherever, you're still going to need a medium to do that. Whether you have to go get a money order or take it to another bank and put it in there and then send it from there, it's still going to be some hassle and by the time you get that taken care of, it maybe all cleared up at your own bank. But if you just need to make sure that you've got some access to some cash, which I'm all in favor of by the way. Yeah, keep some cash at home whether it's in a safe or a shoebox or a jar in your backyard, however you feel safe about doing that.
08:46
Damian Dunn
But yeah, I'm a big proponent of that.
08:48
Peter Dunn
Kristen has just left the show for today as she drives to Damien's house to dig up his backyard. Kristen but so the other piece of advice here is you just go to a different bank and put a $1,000 in a savings account, ideally, as long.
09:01
Kristen Ahlenius
As that's a quick process, in my opinion. It's nice to have see, this is where someone who is I'm very open about the fact that I'm very anxious. I don't think I could use one financial institution. That's why I have three different modes of payment with me at all times, because what if one doesn't work? So I would prefer for that to be something that you do that is a proactive approach, is you have another form of payment available in the event that something like this happened or even something smaller. Your accounts frozen for fraudulent because you had fraud. I mean, there could be a number of things that could prevent you from getting access to your cash very temporarily.
09:40
Peter Dunn
So I want to make a statement before we go to break here about personal finance. And I'll use my personal finances for an example. Number one, I don't have a single bank account with more than five figures in it, so I'm not worried about exceeding the FDIC limit. And so therefore, I am personally saying I have zero concern about the safety of my bank deposits. Zero as it relates to my personal finances. And what we're going to come back with after the break is the part of the story that everyone seems to be forgetting about, and that is where your employer banks. That's what this story is about. Don't worry about your $6,000 in your checking account. Worry about the millions of dollars your employer has for payroll. That's next on the Pizza Planner show. I'm Pete the planner.
10:42
Damian Dunn
That was a pretty solid outro, I.
10:44
Peter Dunn
Got to be honest.
10:45
Damian Dunn
It was good.
10:45
Peter Dunn
I felt like a radio show. Bloomington just got a little extra. Pete's house. Wait, no, let's not do know.
10:52
Damian Dunn
After last week's show, they needed some signs of life from us.
10:58
Peter Dunn
We're not going with Pete sauce again. We're going to retire that one.
11:01
Damian Dunn
Yeah, let's not could have got worse. I was willing to not ever hear that again, but you brought it back after I made my okay.
11:10
Peter Dunn
Kristen is there any truth lee notes that you leave the show for one week and all of a sudden there's a banking collapse?
11:17
Kristen Ahlenius
I can neither confirm nor deny that.
11:20
Peter Dunn
Lee all right, we're starting the next segment. Prepare your clocks. In three, two, one. Back on The Pete the Planner show, talking about whether you should care about the banking meltdown. That's the voice you use for banking meltdown. We have come to the conclusion so far that a true vast majority of people truly like, I don't know, 90% of people shouldn't worry about their personal money at a bank because most people have less than $250,000 in an account. So for everyone who has under you're good to go. Now, here's the issue, Dave. The reason the Silicon Valley Bank thing was so terrifying is because of payroll. If your business that you work for your organization banks at one of these regional banks or one of these banks at risk, then that gets locked up. They're not FDIC insured. You risk losing a paycheck, you risk losing your job, the business risks losing the company.
12:22
Peter Dunn
And that's what was so terrifying last week, as myself and some of our colleagues have a lot of friends who had money there, and it was 48 hours of absolute no sleep panic. Kristen, have you considered that the real threat here is me to your personal finances and not you?
12:46
Kristen Ahlenius
I only sleep at night.
12:48
Peter Dunn
Is that weird to think about?
12:51
Kristen Ahlenius
It is weird to think about. But it's true, isn't it? I don't know.
12:59
Peter Dunn
Okay, so we all have different feelings about our employers. I know mine's handsome. Rarely do we think, oh, my place, that has a lot of stability, it's all going to go down because their money's going to disappear because they banked at the wrong place. When is that ever entered into your brain, Dame?
13:18
Damian Dunn
Not until last week. That's about it. My relationship with my employer is, am I doing a good job? Am I doing what they're asking of me? Am I exceeding those expectations? And if I do that, I'm going to keep getting a paycheck because they're assuming the business is doing well, but not because the money might just disappear overnight. That's never been on my radar until very recently.
13:45
Peter Dunn
Which brings us to celebrity Death Match, starring Kristen Ahlenius and Damian Dunn. It is my understanding that these two radio hosts have different opinions as to whether the government should have stepped in and saved Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. Kristen, round one. Should the government have saved Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank?
14:15
Kristen Ahlenius
Do I think that the government should have?
14:19
Peter Dunn
That was the question.
14:19
Kristen Ahlenius
I just no, but do I think that there wasn't really another option? And do I hate that?
14:30
Peter Dunn
Yes, time out, dame, come out swinging. Should the government have saved the banks?
14:38
Damian Dunn
First of all, I appreciate Kristen's artful job of playing both sides of the fence. In this case, no, I don't like it, but, no, there wasn't any other choice. Yeah, they absolutely should have. Now, I am not in favor of having more Uncle Sam in my life than most folks, but in this particular case, it was very easy to see domino's starting to fall and as one bank collapses, because it had bad investments and there was going to be a run on that bank. If I were in a business owner's shoes that felt that my deposits were at risk, you're darn right I would have moved that money somewhere and tried to find a more reasonable way to ensure that my company was going to survive, my employees were going to get paid, and that the business would continue on. So, yes, something had to step in to prevent a number of businesses from ceasing to exist.
15:38
Damian Dunn
The unemployment rate from just absolutely skyrocketing and frankly, pushing us to the brink of major financial collapse in the country.
15:50
Peter Dunn
So Kristen disagrees. She thinks we should have burned it all down.
15:54
Kristen Ahlenius
Yeah, that's what I said.
15:57
Peter Dunn
See, I'm so ask Mrs. Planner sometime how fun I am to argue it. Kristen, it's my understanding that taxpayer dollars were not used. These were FDIC funds that were used to insure the rest of the deposits. So why shouldn't they have stepped in if taxpayers are not involved? Do you worry about moral hazard?
16:22
Kristen Ahlenius
Well, maybe, but I think it really comes down to the fact that these are the limits that are in place. And if you're someone who has these dollars, you should be well aware of the limits. And Damian and I were kind of having a little bit of a conversation about unsystematic risk, and that's a risk that you can control. Now, at the business level, I'm not a business owner. I don't know what I would or wouldn't do. But I think if you're someone who has that amount of money, you are aware of the risks. Now, I don't want to not be empathetic either. That's why I keep playing both sides of the fence, is because if I were in this position, I would want to be sure that my dollars were safe. But where do you draw the line? To me, that's the whole point of having the FDIC limits.
17:15
Peter Dunn
Dame the FDIC limits were updated not too terribly long ago from 100 to 250. And from what I've read, the Fdaic funding in terms of how are they actually funded to cover all these deposits, they say they're going to fund and insure. They're not even close to being able to have the funds to do that. So this is a system built on trust and belief. And so when people lose belief in the banking system and I know that's an abstract concept, that's where this thing collapses. So I think the government absolutely had to do something, and kudos to them. I don't really love giving credit to the government as much, but kudos to them for not using taxpayer dollars. I think as cynical as I can be at times about the government, I had no problem with it.
18:04
Damian Dunn
When you're dealing with your main argument, well, has the full faith and credit of the United States government behind it? That may not be the original intention of what you were talking about, but it stretches into other areas. And this absolutely was a way that they had to step in and prevent bigger things from spidering out. I asked this question. I don't remember if it was while I was down in the office earlier this week or not, but what's going to prevent, in my opinion, some really big companies from just setting up their own banks and not being exposed to any of this. Apple's got I don't know how many billions of dollars on hand. They could set up their own bank and not have any of this risk. They'd be incredibly conservative with it, maybe make just a little bit of money on the return, but do everything through it.
18:53
Damian Dunn
They don't need the chases or anybody else bank of America to do their business. They could set up their own and just be completely insulated from it.
19:03
Peter Dunn
Kristen, if Apple set up its own bank, do they call it Orchard or do they call it Granny Smith?
19:09
Kristen Ahlenius
That's a great joke.
19:15
Peter Dunn
What in the world? Just a kind older man making funnies.
19:21
Kristen Ahlenius
Granny Smith. How do you keep this from happening? That's my biggest thing is, okay, this happened. Now how does this not happen anymore?
19:33
Peter Dunn
Well, so this gets interesting because to some degree, it was an attempt at deregulation that got us here. And Kristen, what you're saying is, okay, not only well, I shouldn't say this. What maybe you're suggesting is not only is deregulation what we should do, but we should regulate, regulate.
19:55
Kristen Ahlenius
I don't know if regulate, regulate. But I do think were looking at the reserve requirements for banks this morning, and they're shockingly low. That might just be a good place to start.
20:07
Peter Dunn
All right, so, Dame, as we look at this now, why I think the government had to step in is because it wasn't even about Silicon Valley Bank and it wasn't even about Signature Bank. It's when the panic set in. So all of these banks started locking up, all the payrolls started getting locked up. And I thought one of the wildest factors in all this as we head to break here is not only did it matter where your employer banked, it mattered where your payroll company banked. That's when things got hairy, too. All right, coming up after break, listener email. It's from yayan. I'm Pete the planner. All right. Kristen chose violence today. As Danza says.
20:56
Kristen Ahlenius
Regulation.
20:57
Peter Dunn
Take it easy on the old man here. Just a happy go lucky old man. I got a young beaten up on me.
21:07
Kristen Ahlenius
A young.
21:08
Peter Dunn
All right, so I'm going to read this question very quickly and try not to do many asides, because this is the longest question the show has.
21:14
Kristen Ahlenius
That's what I said.
21:15
Damian Dunn
It is not.
21:16
Peter Dunn
Good thing that guy's got a three letter first name to save some time.
21:19
Damian Dunn
And then explains it over the course of another 50 letters.
21:24
Kristen Ahlenius
Ian, he didn't mean that.
21:26
Peter Dunn
Oh, I mean it. I mean it deeply.
21:29
Damian Dunn
It's all jokes. It's serious.
21:31
Peter Dunn
Three, two, one. Back on the Pete the Planner show. Listener emails. You can email us. I don't know why you'd want to, but if you did askpete@petetheplanner.com, askpete@petetheplanner.com whether you're listening on our podcast, the Live stream, or on WTRC in Michigan, Indiana. Kristen, you can actually get WTRC at your house right?
21:58
Kristen Ahlenius
Oh yeah, I'm sure.
21:59
Peter Dunn
Turn it on right now. Let's see what they're listening to. Okay, so here is the email from Ian. Hey. Hey, Kristen and Co. My name is Ian and I'm a longtime podcast listener. Maybe first time question asker. Before I dive into the question, I did want to say thank you for all in the know. Let's get out of all that. OK, here's the question. We don't need compliments, we have mirrors. Okay, now a question for you all to consider. And I'll start off by saying it stems from a good problem to have. I accepted a new job late last year and it came along with a very nice pay bump. He sounds comfortable now. Six figures a year. Problem is I've now hit is that making this higher salary disqualifies me for a number of tax deductions I had previously factored into my W? Two withholding notably my student loan interest deduction and traditional IRA contribution deductions.
22:56
Peter Dunn
Who knew that when you make an AGI of more than seventy three K and are covered by an employer retirement plan, you cannot deduct contributions to a traditional IRA? See, a good problem is that true, Kristen and Dave?
23:11
Kristen Ahlenius
I don't know if that's the exact dollar amount, but that is true that being covered.
23:15
Damian Dunn
Yeah, it's the concept again.
23:17
Peter Dunn
In 2022, I contributed 2400 to my traditional IRA, only realized that I contributed tax dollars to a pretax account when my tax software told me it wasn't deductible. I've now started the process of reversing. Oh, that's a pain. The excess contribution. I'm curious, what is to use the best use of that money? I have 30,000 in student loans, $3,000 in credit card debt, just opened a Roth IRA. Since it has a higher income cap of these three things that are a clear winner of what my residual fund should go to, my default assumption is the credit card debt. But with the student loan interest freeze coming up and debt relief now looking unlikely for a variety of reasons, wonder if student loan is best. For additional context, I'm a renter who's saving up for a first home loan. A Carless individual who is now saving for a car because I adopted a dog.
24:06
Peter Dunn
Does your dog even have a driver's license, Ian? No kids or dependents except my dog and my plants and I'm not married. Jan from Chicago.
24:15
Kristen Ahlenius
I like Ian's lifestyle.
24:17
Peter Dunn
And that's all we have time for this week on the Pizza Platinum. Thank you for listening on WIO. I do love that we have WIO in Kokomo. It's the best affiliate name in all of money radio. Kristen, if the question here is where should the money go of those three things student loans, credit card or the Roth IRA? What say use credit card first? Yeah, I mean, by my measure, he can basically pay it off. Right?
24:48
Kristen Ahlenius
Right. And I think that very is maybe on the cusp of what is a trap for persons when they reach a higher income level, which is maybe a little bit more financial freedom that can sometimes unintentionally lead to irresponsibility.
25:05
Peter Dunn
Holy cow. I was not ready for that this morning. I think you're onto something here. Are you going with money? Mo problems?
25:15
Kristen Ahlenius
Yes. More money, more problems.
25:17
Peter Dunn
Dame.
25:17
Damian Dunn
I buy that 100%. 1st, we have to figure out what's that credit card debt stem from. Was there legitimate reason for it? Was it just a great trip to Albuquerque to adopt this dog and fly home at first class? Nobody knows why that $3,000 is there, but is it going to keep showing up? Is this going to be a recurring problem, especially with more income available to us? Are our tastes going to grow and our lifestyle along with it?
25:49
Peter Dunn
I've noticed a trend of people that I've helped over the years. A massive pay bump, massive pay increase can actually be the catalyst to a lot of problems. Yeah, dead Air had fan sound in it.
26:07
Damian Dunn
It was amazing.
26:09
Kristen Ahlenius
Well, and maybe what has happened in this case, which is something that in our day to day work that we see, is that maybe this is credit card debt that's lingering from when Ian didn't have that income security. And now that you have that income security, it's like, I'm working on it, but I have it. It's there. Well, saying you have it and actually just paying it off are two very different things. There's emotional attachment to that money. So I would say pay off that credit card debt.
26:38
Peter Dunn
Did Ian at any point mention his emergency fund?
26:42
Damian Dunn
No, not to my knowledge.
26:44
Peter Dunn
Isn't that weird? No, it's a little weird, right? Because I feel like that might be the most important context here.
26:53
Damian Dunn
Yeah. If he doesn't have any kind of an emergency fund established, find a number that makes you comfortable, and it doesn't have to be the full deal, but find a starter amount. $1,000 is usually pretty common. There aren't a huge amount of emergencies that I'm assuming could potentially happen for him. I mean, there's no car in the picture right now. He's renting. So $1,000 will probably tide him over for a little while and then get rid of that credit card debt and then maybe work on Co Gold at that point, continue to build that emergency fund and prepare for student loans to start again.
27:29
Peter Dunn
Kristen, you want to play a little game here?
27:31
Kristen Ahlenius
Yes.
27:33
Peter Dunn
How much does Ian have in his savings account? Here's how the show works. We get to guess, based on all of this other information, how much we think Ian has in his savings account. And by the way, he's going to email us back and tell us the answer. Ian and ian. I don't know why I'm doing that. It seems rude at this point. You have to do it based on the time of when you sent us this email. So you can't say what's in there now. It has to be when you send this email. We are all going to take a guess. I'm going to go last, actually. Let's write down our number. Let's write down our number. How much he has in savings right now. Let's do that. I don't have anything to write on, so this is backfiring. I've got a number. Dame doesn't.
28:22
Peter Dunn
Chris, do you have a number?
28:23
Damian Dunn
Yeah.
28:24
Peter Dunn
Okay, hold them up to the radio. Kristen, what'd you say 650? I say $3,000. All right, let's see who the real personal finance expert is here. Ian, email us. Let us know what you have there.
28:42
Damian Dunn
That rarely works out for us. It did happen once. And I'd like to point out were exactly right when we asked the caller or emailer to contact us and we nailed almost every hypothetical that we put out there. But I'd like to say we kind of know what we're doing every once in a while.
28:56
Peter Dunn
Yeah, I've had this discussion a lot this week. To your point, there are patterns and the more financial situations you look at when someone gives us that, they don't mention their emergency fund, yet they have 30,000 in student loans. They gave us their there are patterns as to why we guessed in about a $2,500 range. Right. There is a reason for that. And here's something we're going to talk about on the show next week, by the way. We're going to talk about taking over in a good way, a positive way, a helpful way, the finances of an older relative. What we have learned is there are patterns, there are things that you need to be on the lookout for. There will become a time or there will come a time in your life in which it is likely you're going to have to assist an older relative with their finances.
29:55
Peter Dunn
And I want to start to teach you the patterns. So not only do you know what to do, but you know what to look out for. That could indicate it's time to start helping them right now. Right, Dame? I mean, that's something that you've seen for a long time. And we're going to actually spend a couple segments on that next week.
30:15
Damian Dunn
I think it'll be incredibly informative and valuable for a number of folks. And I can't wait for you to teach me what to do.
30:21
Peter Dunn
Well, we're just sharing info. Kristen, you look forward to the days that you take over the finances of an older relative.
30:30
Kristen Ahlenius
I do not. And I'm sure the two of you will do a great job with that next week.
30:34
Peter Dunn
Here's the thing. It is an uncomfortable topic, everybody. It is a wildly emotional uncomfortable topic, but we're all going to have to deal with it in some capacity. So wouldn't we rather talk about it when it's not a thing for you right now? Or better yet, what if we clue you in on some. Patterns that then you see. And now we've prevented a major catastrophe because you can step in there. So that's what we're doing on the show next week. I'm calling our shot now. And, yes, Kristen, this is the earliest I've ever planned a show an entire 167 hours in advance. Coming up after the break biggest waste of money of the week. I'm Pete the planner. These outro this week are just next level. This next level. Okay, you guys ready for BOM Dam? You got your stories up? I'm ready to go, Jeremiah.
31:28
Damian Dunn
Sorry.
31:31
Peter Dunn
Okay, biggest waste of money in three, two, one. This week's biggest waste of money of the week. Right here on the Pizza Planner show is Sun Spell Bluestone, ocean water, swim shorts. While you're enjoying the ocean, save it at the same time. Sunspell swim shorts are made from Sequal, a material crafted using waste plastic recovered from the oceans. They further pay homage to the sea with its bluestone ocean water print featuring various shades of blue and a wave pattern. A flattering cut depends if Dame's wearing them or I'm wearing them. That hits mid leg is ideal for any poolside affair. Not that sort of affair. Kristen while a draw cord elastic waist offers a secure fit so you do not get DP'd in front of your guests, I added that to the copy. Kristen world's worst bomb. Guesser what does it cost for a pair of Sunspell Bluestone ocean water swim shorts?
32:47
Damian Dunn
Damon nothing makes me happier than when somebody leverages a good deed and tries to bring capitalism into the picture. So I am going to say $150.
33:05
Peter Dunn
Now, here's my issue. I am not anti environment. I want to clean the ocean. Absolutely clean the ocean. But aren't you making something with trash? Shouldn't it be a lot cheaper? Shouldn't this be like $17?
33:21
Damian Dunn
Does some of this profit go back towards harvesting more plastic out of the ocean? Do we know that?
33:29
Peter Dunn
Okay, dude. Here's the thing, sir, and I don't mean to call you dude, I owe you more respect than that. Often I wondered the same thing, and what is alarming is that is not in the copy. That is not in the copy. And had they said $50 from every purchase or $100, $200 from each purchase goes to clean up the soda carriers that my wife cuts up every time before she puts them in the recycling, then I get it.
34:04
Damian Dunn
How can we even be sure that this came out of the ocean?
34:08
Kristen Ahlenius
It's just they're not profitable yet. Maybe when they're profitable, then they'll reinvest the money back.
34:15
Peter Dunn
Think they bank at SVB?
34:17
Damian Dunn
Did?
34:18
Kristen Ahlenius
Yeah.
34:18
Peter Dunn
Name what's in the news this week?
34:22
Damian Dunn
Kellogg thinks the name of his new global snack company is do you want to fill in the kellenova? Is a mashup of kell from Kellogg and ANOVA, which includes the Latin word for new, which is Nova. The food giant is splitting into two scoops of raisins. Just kidding. Into two businesses. Kellanova will include brands such as Pringles, Cheez Its, and Eggos, while North American cereal business will still be named W. Kellogg Company in honor of the company's founders. Cereal will continue to flow on breakfast tables all across the country.
35:01
Peter Dunn
All right, so they split it into two. In one camp you've got Eggos and Pringles, Cheez Its, and the other time you got cereal.
35:09
Damian Dunn
Cereals.
35:09
Peter Dunn
Choose your team. I'm going Team Pringle. Are you guys going? Team cereal or team snack?
35:17
Kristen Ahlenius
Team Salty?
35:18
Damian Dunn
Yeah, probably Team Salty. Because if I had a list of all the cereals that Kellogg's has I mean, we know it's Frosted Flakes and Raisin Bran, but I need a more complete list to make that decision.
35:32
Peter Dunn
You know, it's weird when companies rebrand like this and everyone has an opinion on it, right? I know they split into two, but there's a rebrand effort as part of it. It's such a weird thing as a consumer because at any point in time, have you seen a rebrand or a renaming and gone, oh, I love that? It's the only downside. You're only going, no, that's dumb. The only thing you can say.
35:56
Damian Dunn
Yeah, not interesting.
35:58
Peter Dunn
Yeah. What else?
36:00
Damian Dunn
Dan t Mobile is spending 1.35 billion American dollars in a cash and stock deal to buy Mint Mobile from Ryan Reynolds and his backers. The actor, who uses celebrity and wit to build a low cost competitor in a crowded wireless business in Canada would stay on in a creative capacity and continue to appear in Mint Mobile's ads. T Mobile said Pete, Ryan Reynolds is an actor, a businessman. Has he sold his soul to be this successful in life?
36:31
Peter Dunn
I don't I transparency. Time wasn't always a big fan of his work, but as a fan of football, he is co owner of Rexam, which is a soccer club over in Wales, and watched the documentary series about that. Really grew to really respect what he does in the business world. And it's also not fair that he's theoretically pretty good looking. What has he done? Because, Dame, you and I are not given as much of the good fortune that Mr. Reynolds does.
37:02
Damian Dunn
No. Why does he deserve it?
37:05
Peter Dunn
Kristen I love, actually, when celebrities have really smart business ventures. I don't particularly care for the work of Ashton Kutcher, but I love his business mind. Right. I find that fascinating.
37:21
Kristen Ahlenius
He was the one I just thought of. And then anyone generally that comes on as a celebrity co host of Shark Tank, it's really nice to get to see that side of persons who we tend to see in roles, obviously, that aren't generally who they are as people. They're acting.
37:37
Peter Dunn
Yeah. Like Jessica Alba, Kylie Jenner. These are people I don't follow. I don't know them from Dame's puffin on his sweatshirt, but I appreciate what they've done from a business perspective. Oh, well.
37:51
Damian Dunn
Dame, seven states now plan to ban sales of gas powered cars after 2035, as Maryland became the latest to make the commitment. Under a growing multistate pact, only zero emission vehicles, including electric vehicles and some plug in hybrids, can be sold following the 2035 model year. Traditional gas powered cars on the road at that point wouldn't be affected, and drivers would still be allowed to buy used gas powered cars. Automakers dealerships, however, would be prohibited from selling new gas vehicles in states where bans are in place. As an increasing number of states come out with plans to ban new gas powered cars, automakers could feel pressure to accelerate the production of electric cars. In 2022, 5.8% of new vehicle sales were electric vehicles, a major increase from the 3.2% the year before. The transition to electric cars is already underway, and the 2035 bans show how quickly it could speed up.
38:47
Peter Dunn
Damon is our transportation expert around here. But Kristen, I want to start with you. Do you think this is possible?
38:54
Kristen Ahlenius
No, I do not think this is possible. I think that if you talked to people who live where I live, no one that I know is going to drive an electric vehicle. They're just not going to do it. And two, we're in a recession, my man. And three, how are we going to be able to support this in twelve years?
39:17
Peter Dunn
Yeah. Dame, you are the expert here. Do you feel like you keep up with the EV news as well as other gas powered cars?
39:26
Damian Dunn
It's hard to miss because so many of the manufacturers are going in 100% towards EV. I think GM is planning on replacing all of their gas powered cars by 2035. I mean, all of them? That's crazy. So it's there, but Kristen hit on the big problem, and that's infrastructure. We just don't have the infrastructure to support that much draw in demand for electricity. Unless every electric car is going to come with free sets of solar panels and installation at your house, it's going to be really tough to make this work.
40:01
Peter Dunn
I have a question, which is, I'm sure out there and is already answered. I just don't know the answer. It's not like electricity is the cleanest energy in the world to create. So what's the offset there? Like, what's better?
40:19
Damian Dunn
Not the way we make it. If we've started firing up nukes, we'd be able to produce a lot of electricity relatively cleanly, or really get on the solar and wind. But even then, it's unreliable. So if this is the direction you want to go, I think we've got to take another real good, hard look at nuclear power.
40:38
Peter Dunn
I got to assume someone's got solar panels and then it plugs into their garage, which plugs into their rivian. Right. It's got to be a thing.
40:46
Damian Dunn
Yeah. Tesla sells roofs.
40:49
Peter Dunn
Yeah. So that makes sense a lot, actually. To me, I think it's when you're just plugging it in and it's going on your power bill. That that's like, okay, what are we doing here? That makes sense to me. All right. Oh, Lee Wayne and the Tesla Supercharger Network are super prevalent and reliable and are starting to roll out to a non Tesla branded deviate. Thank God for smart listeners. And that's all we have time for this week. Send you good vibes, because good vibes are all that's in the budget. I'm Pete the planner. That's Kristen. That's dame. And we are done. Good day. I said I wanted to be done in 45 minutes today, and we did it in 40. And the show is exactly not over because I still have to say goodbye to everyone, but we did it. You all free up some time for Easter shopping for people next week when they listen to the pod.
41:32
Peter Dunn
We just gave you 20 minutes back of your life. Yes.
41:35
Kristen Ahlenius
You're welcome.
41:36
Peter Dunn
I also just realized that means I blab on for 20 extra minutes every episode, is what just occurred to me.
41:42
Damian Dunn
We do it. We enjoy our time with our listeners and the podcast folks in between segments. But, yeah, we fill some air. But it's fun. Helps us build relationships.
41:52
Peter Dunn
All right, well, Kristen, thank you. Dame, thank you. Everyone else, stay getting money.
