00:08
Peter Dunn
Fire. I cannot get the Blip to work at the beginning of the thing. And I did a 32nd countdown. Hi, everybody. Peter Dunn the Pete the Planner show. Good morning. Good day.
00:25
Damian Dunn
It hello.
00:26
Peter Dunn
Damian Dunn joins us, as always. Hello.
00:28
Damian Dunn
Dame I wasn't sure if that was just a really awkward introduction or I didn't know what was going on.
00:34
Peter Dunn
It's always an awkward introduction. Oh. Dame another day, another dollar. I don't know what that means. We are going listen to this. I was in the car today and I heard, is it Virtual Insanity? Is that the name of the Jamericoy song?
00:51
Damian Dunn
Sure is.
00:52
Peter Dunn
And I thought, why in the world has that not been the preshow music of every Zoom meeting in the last 18 months? You know, someone clever enough to have done it. But then I'm like, when else are you going to play Virtual Insanity by Jamiricoi, which happens to be number one, a really good song. Jamiricoi is completely underrated number three. The video was amazing. Why haven't people done that? Dame I don't know.
01:17
Damian Dunn
We need to look into licensing rights to see what it's going to cost for us to make this happen. Maybe we could set up a Go Fund us.
01:25
Peter Dunn
Go fund us. Dame this week on the show, we're doing a few different things. We're talking about it's sort of in the spirit of were talking about life insurance last week. It sometimes is good, sometimes it's bad. It just depends on the person. Everyone likes to paint. Refinancing, a high interest rate loan or any sort of loan is always a good thing. Well, sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. So we'll talk about the good and the bad of refi when you should and would you should not. And it is slightly inspired by your recent radio appearance. Big time. Dame this past Wednesday. So we'll talk about that next. We're also going to talk about choosing a job based on wage, like a part time job. Recently, a restaurant that I like to go to was advertising online, the different job and pay choices they have.
02:16
Peter Dunn
And it was just sort of peculiar. And I want to go through it and we'll talk about that. Jeremiah says your audio is low. Maybe I should stop talking so people can actually hear that.
02:26
Damian Dunn
Maybe you should stop talking because people just enjoy it when you stop talking.
02:30
Peter Dunn
All right, so hopefully that's better. Jeremiah let us know if that insult was at a better tome. And then dame the third segment, I think we're going to talk about Amazon's insistence on having brick and mortar. They've dominated everything. And now they're just like, you know what, we're going to have department stores now, which is true. And it's just sort of mind boggling. So I think we're going to talk about that. Then, of course, biggest waste of money of the week, which is a pretty great waste of money. I mean, not great in the sense of you should waste it. It's great of like, wow, why would anyone buy that?
03:04
Damian Dunn
That's what we're doing.
03:06
Peter Dunn
Okay, it's with that we now start the show. Anything you want to say before we start the show here, Damian? Anything you want to get out, I got off your chest?
03:17
Damian Dunn
Am I stalling for you to accomplish some other task that we don't need to know about?
03:22
Peter Dunn
No, but let's not pull back the curtain.
03:24
Damian Dunn
Oh, sorry. No, I'm good. But I appreciate you thinking of my feelings and thoughts.
03:30
Peter Dunn
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, askpete@petetheplanner.com, and here's what happens. We'll answer your question on the air. Our relationship may extend beyond that. It may stop there. No one knows. And by we, I mean Damian Dunn, vice president of Advice, Your Money Line and hey, money. Hello, Dame.
03:56
Damian Dunn
We don't need to define our relationship, Pete. Let's just see where it goes organically.
04:00
Peter Dunn
Damian Dunn, big radio star, been on several different podcasts and radio shows in the last few weeks. And, Dame, I was listening to your appearance on All In on WFYI as a public radio this week, and you were on there, and you were talking about student loans, and someone else was talking about student loans, refinancing and forgiveness and all these sorts of things. It occurred to me that sometimes when people come up against a complicated financial situation, that their solution ideally turns to ease. Like, I've got a complicated situation. I want to make it easier. But in seeking that ease, they make their financial life worse. And of course, what I'm talking about is oftentimes consolidation of debts. I'm talking about refinancing and putting many debts into one, which also is another phrase for consolidation and changing the interest rate out of the desire to have ease.
05:01
Peter Dunn
And, Dame, the reality is sometimes it is worth investing some brain power instead of ease, because it's just a better financial situation. And I think that's what I want to focus on here to start the show.
05:16
Damian Dunn
Occasionally, you are exactly right. People will make this decision because they need a little bit of relief, whether that's financial, whether that's mental, whatever the case may be. They see an issue in front of them. They say, how can I solve this problem? And they choose maybe a consolidation or refinance of some sort. And if they're not careful, they can dig themselves into a little bit of a deeper hole. So this is a worthy topic.
05:44
Peter Dunn
There are two versions of this. One of them I kind of buy, and the other one I don't. So here's one version. I've had several jobs. I have a bunch of 401 KS. I'm thinking about just consolidating them down into one IRA so that I can stay organized. Okay? So that's something I, a lot of times get down with. I sort of agree with that sentiment. And it's based on this idea that it's likely you can lessen your expenses and you can get better investment options by taking control of that. IRA right. That is a reasonable thing to do.
06:22
Damian Dunn
Absolutely.
06:23
Peter Dunn
Now, the flip side. Let's say you've got a bunch of different student loans or a lot of credit card debts or a lot of different things. You get into consolidating those debts into one product with a fixed interest rate of some sort and oftentimes it shifts the dynamics of that and it causes problems and it's not advantageous for you. And all of it is justified by this one simple phrase is it's just easier if I have one payment? And dame unfortunately, while that is true, it doesn't justify the decision. So oftentimes when you hear banking commercials, you'll hear these weird justifications as to why people should refinance debts. They would say things like, hey, it's nice to have one payment or free up money for cash flow or free up money for those vacation you've always wanted to go on. And the reality is, if you're going to refinance anything, you have to have a specific goal in mind.
07:27
Peter Dunn
And generally speaking, freeing up cash flow is not a great goal, although it seems like one. Why is that?
07:36
Damian Dunn
If you don't, you're going to end up, like I said, putting yourself deeper into a hole if you don't have that plan. Let's say your plan simply is to make ends meet from one month to the next. That's a reasonable plan. If you are spending too much on payments and you just don't have the ability to have enough cash flow to make it from one month to the next and you can consolidate, that's a potentially decent reason to make sure that you can survive and you can fill those obligations that you have from month to month. However, if it is to free up cash flow, I think the problem that you and I see with that is what's the goal going to be with that cash flow. Because if you can fill that up with other obligations, you're not really getting any further ahead. You're potentially just making your life even more stressful.
08:22
Peter Dunn
Yeah, that's the thing. To me, if you're going to refinance, there's only a couple of goals that are actually making sense. Number one, to lower your payment so that you can then pay what you used to pay and more of the principal is taken off. Right. Because if you've got one type of amateurized loan and there's principal and interest payments within that one payment and you lower the interest rate, thus lowering the payment, if you pay what you used to pay, more of that payment goes to pay down the principal loan amount. And that is a very good thing. So that is reason number one is to pay down the loan faster, which in turn pays the least amount of interest as well, Dame, the other way to consider this is really on those amateurized loans is change the period of which you're repaying the loan.
09:17
Peter Dunn
Oftentimes when it comes to things like a mortgage, I think it actually makes more sense to increase your payment via refinance because you've lessened the period of the loan. For instance, if you go from a 30 year to a 15 year, and that increases your payment by $100 a month, fantastic. Do it. But I think people are so opposed to that, and I think sometimes people in the loan business get so caught up with trying to show the benefits of refinancing that they oftentimes mask the true benefit, which is to get out of debt sooner and pay less interest. That's my theory. Are you buying it?
10:02
Damian Dunn
Do you think the pause comes from the individual themselves or the people that are, you know, the salespeople? I'll just say the salespeople that are trying to convince them of what the best course of action is going to be for them? If I'm thinking about it, I think the pause comes from the individual. We are so payment driven anymore. You don't buy a car based on total cost. You buy a car on payments. So you're going to stretch that out to 84 months now or whatever the case may because that's the payment that fits in your month to month cash flow.
10:38
Peter Dunn
But where does that come from? Where does that newfound culture and sentiment come from? I would argue it comes from the institutions making it part of the ethos. Think about this. Is this any different than buying 100 calorie pack of Chips Ahoy and convincing yourself that it's just 100 calories? Well, no, it's two miniature Chips Ahoy that aren't healthy for you anyway. But you convince yourself, since it's 100 calories, it might be the right thing to do. I think it's sort of the same concept.
11:06
Damian Dunn
No, first of all, Chips Ahoy are trash, and you should have picked a different cookie.
11:09
Peter Dunn
Wow. I don't want to be that aggressive. They are a sponsor of the show. Speaking of sponsors of the show, I'm taking us way off track now. Okay, so this morning I was cutting a commercial for the Indiana College 529 plan, which I am a paid endorser of, and I don't know if I'm allowed to actually, I don't know if I'm allowed to say what I was about to say. Let's just say this. They have a contest coming up in September that is I've been doing these commercials for years, and I just read them this contest that's coming up in September. It's amazing. It's true. I was like, what? And then it occurred to me, Dame, I can't enter the contest because I'm a paid endorser, but I would so enter that contest, and now I'm mad that I'm a paid endorser because I would much rather win that contest.
12:01
Damian Dunn
As soon as you said contest, I thought, oh, I hope I can enter because I'm affiliated with Pete. I thought maybe I would be precluded from entering as well.
12:12
Peter Dunn
That's a good question, but you should totally enter. I don't think I should say anything about it because I don't think it's public. I might already be in trouble. But it's September 1 through September 30 is this contest for the Indiana College Choice 529 plan, and I want to enter. You always think it's like, well, the McDonald's game, Mcnobly game was rigged. Watch the documentary on all that. And it's like, oh, it's rigged. And now I'm finally like, I want to win something, but I can't because it would seem like it's rigged, but it wouldn't be. I would just be really lucky. Dame, let's do this. Let's take a break. Coming back, we're going to go through different job choices based on pay. All that is next on the Pete the Planner show. Not beat the planner. It's true. I should stop talking about the contest because I feel like maybe I just got in trouble.
13:01
Damian Dunn
Apply.
13:03
Peter Dunn
Let me slack it to you. Let me slack it to you.
13:07
Damian Dunn
That way we can talk about it in code and nobody else will know what we're talking about.
13:10
Peter Dunn
Yeah. Don't tip the hand there. Okay. Do you see it?
13:14
Damian Dunn
Trying.
13:15
Peter Dunn
Hi, everybody. Hi, Danza. Hey, Mike. Hey, Jameson. Jeremiah. Brittany. Jeremy. Good to see you.
13:22
Damian Dunn
To one person.
13:23
Peter Dunn
One person. Don't mess this up. One person. Just for no purchase necessary. But it's like, really?
13:34
Damian Dunn
Wow.
13:35
Peter Dunn
Yeah. And here, I do this. It's in the form of this.
13:44
Damian Dunn
I figured.
13:45
Peter Dunn
Yeah. Still okay. Yeah. Oh. Jeremy asks Dame, what's your thought on the new Girl Scout cookie? What is the new Girl Scout cookie?
13:52
Damian Dunn
I don't even know. It's probably trash.
13:57
Peter Dunn
New Girl Scout cookie. Haven't we talked on the show before about my love for Girl Scout cookies? And my dismay with the Boy Scout popcorn is, like $39,000 a box.
14:08
Damian Dunn
Yeah.
14:09
Peter Dunn
And then I got people upset about that.
14:11
Damian Dunn
I didn't know that.
14:15
Peter Dunn
Adventurefuls. Brownie cookies.
14:18
Damian Dunn
Brookies brookies brownie cookie.
14:23
Peter Dunn
Yeah. Adventurefuls. All right. Okay. I'm going to read this here. Get ready to taste the adventure. This year, I'm going to use my Indiana College fight. Pete the Planner here. This year, cookie loving consumers across the country can get a great big taste of deliciousness and adventure with new adventurefuls. The latest addition to the iconic Girl Scout cookie lineup. An indulgent brownie inspired cookie with caramel flavored creme and a hint of sea salt. Adventurefuls. Take cookie lovers on a delicious, taste adventure just like Girl Scouts go on their own amazing adventures all year long. Girl Scouts across the United States will offer adventural cookies next cookie season alongside favorites like Fin Mints, Samoas, and Caramel Delights.
15:11
Damian Dunn
So they are brownie cookies.
15:13
Peter Dunn
Hi, Laurie. Yeah. So what they look like is they look like it's like a ring of brownie, like flat brownie. And then there's like, a cookie inserted almost like you do, like, thumbprint cookies with Hershey Kisses in the middle, but the brownies on the outside, and then they've got a drizzle of caramel over the top.
15:38
Damian Dunn
I really think texture is important when it comes to brownies. And so I'm not sure how the addition of a cookie to the flavor or to the program is going to really help on that. So I will withhold judgment on that. It sounds decent on its face, but I think the texture is what's going to make or break that one.
15:58
Peter Dunn
Is there another food that the good version of it is amazing and the bad version of it is just awful as much as brownies?
16:06
Damian Dunn
Yes. Macaroni and cheese. And macaroni and cheese ice cream.
16:09
Peter Dunn
I'll stop it. Next segment. Oh, I got to pull up the information here for this segment because otherwise the segment starts and we're not my father in law sent me a text message last night to let me know a local place was selling very inexpensive roses if I wanted to earn points with my wife, which is his daughter. And I'm like, is that not a brother helping a brother out right there?
16:34
Damian Dunn
Totally.
16:35
Peter Dunn
He also understands that I need points with his daughter, my wife, which is also interesting. He's known me for 25 years.
16:43
Damian Dunn
Why hasn't somebody set up an app that pushes stuff like that out to us, say, like, cheap flowers at So and So today? Go get them.
16:51
Peter Dunn
I saw something online the other day that people want. An app that two married people can use when they are about to go to dinner. And all the options pop up and so you don't have to talk about it, and you just swipe left or right and it tries to find a match of where you want to eat and then that's where you go eat. That is genius, isn't it?
17:09
Damian Dunn
Yes. But it's also a very sad reflection on the state of relationships today.
17:14
Peter Dunn
Is it? Or is it just realistic? Here's what often will well, here's the conversation in our house. Mrs. Planner, which I don't call her that, but what would you like for dinner? She's like, I don't care. Anything's fine. Okay. How about pizza? No. Do you want to get Mexican? How about burgers? No. Fine. You choose. Whatever. I don't care. It's like, really? That's every time we dine out and.
17:43
Damian Dunn
Every sitcom on TV at some point.
17:47
Peter Dunn
Okay, in three, two, one. Back on the Pete the Planner show. Dame, earlier this week, I found something online, and I text messaged you after hours to reflect something incredibly interesting. In a byproduct of the times in which we live, restaurants are really trying to hire people. They're struggling to find people to hire, and so they have to be innovative. You've seen wages come up. I saw an article in the paper here recently that in the state of Indiana, $15 an hour has more or less become the starting wage for any job. And so, Dame, I'm looking at this ad for this local restaurant, which I love this restaurant, and it is independent, locally owned, and they list the different jobs they're hiring for, and then they list the different wage components to those jobs. But it's so interesting that it became a story problem for me, and I'm fascinated, and now I want to talk about it.
18:52
Peter Dunn
So, Dame, what I'm going to do is I'm going to tell you the 12345 different jobs that are available. I will tell you the wages, and then I will tell you why it's interesting, and then you get to pick the job you want.
19:05
Damian Dunn
All right?
19:06
Peter Dunn
Does that make sense?
19:07
Damian Dunn
Yes.
19:08
Peter Dunn
I will also note, after 30 days of staying employed at any of these jobs, you receive a $200 bonus.
19:16
Damian Dunn
Okay?
19:17
Peter Dunn
So just putting that in your cap there. Okay. The carry out hostess, right? The Hostess carry out person who just brings stuff to your car. Okay. $6 an hour. Oh, wait, I want to go through hold on. Forget the numbers. I want to go through the jobs first, and I'll come back and hit the numbers. So carry out Hostess, it's the same job busers people, clean tables and whatnot, servers, bartenders, and then line cook, dishwasher prep is one job. Okay, are you ready for this?
19:54
Damian Dunn
Yes, I am.
19:54
Peter Dunn
This is Fast and furious. All right, carry out, you might want to take notes. If you're listening at home, you might want to take notes. Carry out Hostess is $6 an hour, which is below minimum wage. So I'm not sure just to start, I'm not sure how in the world, if this person is not a server, how they get away with paying below minimum wage? I don't understand that. Right.
20:20
Damian Dunn
I'm assuming that it is codified in law somewhere, and this fine establishment is abiding by the very rules that they are set forth in.
20:28
Peter Dunn
Just occurred to me. I've never said the word codify.
20:31
Damian Dunn
Congratulations.
20:33
Peter Dunn
But the average tips they're saying are $25 an hour for this position.
20:41
Damian Dunn
All right?
20:42
Peter Dunn
Okay, so it's $6 an hour average tips of $25 an hour, for a total of $31 an hour. But the carry out or Hostess accepts the risk if business is slow.
20:54
Damian Dunn
True.
20:56
Peter Dunn
I would also like to ask maybe now or later? Maybe save the answer for later. I'll ask the question now. If they put the average tips are $25 an hour, what's the approach there for the restaurant? Do they try to be really conservative with that estimate, or are they really liberal with that estimate? You know what I mean? Next question. Busers. These are people who clean tables and whatnot, $7.25 an hour? So these people make a dollar 25 an hour more. Dame, can you look up real quick minimum wage in the state of Indiana while I'm doing this?
21:31
Damian Dunn
785, I think, but I'll check.
21:33
Peter Dunn
Okay. Average tips for this position? $40 to $60 a night. $40 to $60 a night. Do you see why this is already fascinating? We've got $6 an hour for a carryout or hostess with $25 an hour of tips. Then we've got 725 an hour for busers, and the average tips is $40 to $60 for the whole shift.
22:01
Damian Dunn
Yeah.
22:02
Peter Dunn
Okay. Are you ready for number three?
22:04
Damian Dunn
Yes.
22:04
Peter Dunn
Servers, $2.13 an hour. Average tips, though, $30 to $40 an hour. Now, here's what's interesting about this. If you look at the carry out and hostess, and you look at the servers, let's say the server has an average night, they're going to make $32.13 an hour, where the carry out hostess is likely to make $31 an hour, a dollar an hour shorter with a lot less aggravation. I'm getting ahead of myself here, but wouldn't you just take that job?
22:38
Damian Dunn
Yeah. You're stepping on my responses.
22:41
Peter Dunn
Oh, sorry. Did you find out how much is in the state of India? Okay. That would explain why the busers get 725. Bartenders, you ready for this? $6 an hour. Much like the carry on hostess average tips of an hour. Okay. Now, finally, line cook dishwasher prep is just $15 an hour. Are you ready to make your selection and to let me know how you would choose? I've never seen it laid out this way in an ad, and I'm just fascinated with it. What would you choose?
23:21
Damian Dunn
I think the hostess is the hands down winner here.
23:26
Peter Dunn
Can you be a hostess if you're a man, though, or you got to be a host? They're not hiring for hosts.
23:31
Damian Dunn
It's 2021 beat. I can be whatever I want.
23:34
Peter Dunn
That's a good point. Okay, so you're going with hostess. Yes.
23:40
Damian Dunn
Here's why. Bartender is attractive, except easy.
23:47
Peter Dunn
You're married.
23:49
Damian Dunn
You've got to deal with people, possibly drunk people. That has no interest for me at this point in my life.
23:57
Peter Dunn
This place is in East Caramel, and on the ad, to be fair, it says, great loyal customer base, parentheses no.
24:06
Damian Dunn
Karen's, which I think is fantastic and unrealistic. Potentially unrealistic.
24:14
Peter Dunn
All right, so I'm with you, man. I would go the carry out hostess because it's the least amount of aggravation, other than if people think their curbside is taking too long because they have curbside there. You get the honkers, you get the callers, you get the passive. And by the way, how is someone tipped for carry out? I would assume when you order online, then you can put a tip in there, because I've done that. But I guess if you call in your order and then you sign your receipt, then you're dependent on whether someone is a carry out tipper or not.
24:53
Damian Dunn
Yeah, and also there's obviously tip splitting going on here as well, with the bussers and whatnot. So I'm not sure if everything just goes into a big kitty and everything gets divided out at a certain percentage for the evening or how that works, but I think there's a clear winner.
25:13
Peter Dunn
Here, pete I do, too. Bartenders is a second. We have a coworker who slangs drinks from time to time just to earn some extra money and makes a killing in tips. Makes a killing, 100%.
25:29
Damian Dunn
Sure.
25:30
Peter Dunn
Here's what I still don't understand, and I don't want this to be the point of the segment here today, I just still don't understand how people can get away paying $2.13 an hour. And the last thing I want to do is to beat up on the restaurant industry because it's been beaten up enough. I just can't get my head around that idea that the risk of not getting paid falls completely on the server. Who spends their time there when it's the restaurant that's not bringing in the business? From a marketing perspective, that sounds real judgmental, but can you talk me out of that?
26:07
Damian Dunn
What if the restaurant said, all right, we'll pay you $15 an hour, but you're only going to get a percentage of your tips?
26:15
Peter Dunn
I think I would have less of a problem with that. But I guess the other side of this is what some restaurants are trying to do is to get rid of tipping and just pay the wages higher.
26:27
Damian Dunn
Yeah. Wouldn't be a server earning $2 an hour, but making $30 to $40 in tips an hour. Isn't that kind of like a commission.
26:35
Peter Dunn
Gig almost, at that point, if there's business? But then also, let's say some of these restaurants, depending on what's going on, carry out is so popular and curbside is so popular that you're not getting the flow of tables that you used to get if you're a server on the inside.
26:51
Damian Dunn
It's true. That is true.
26:54
Peter Dunn
I know that the owner of this company, this restaurant, I would love to have a conversation with them. Not because I'm judgmental over it, because I'm not. I'm just truly fascinated of how they how this all works. Anyway, math fun on the radio, everybody. Coming up after the break, is Amazon trying to build department stores? I'm Pete the Planner. I'm Pete the planner. Am I overly fascinated with that, or is it fascinating?
27:18
Damian Dunn
No, I think lots of people have wondered, me included, what wages really look like for wait staff and bartenders and whatnot at a good restaurant. And, I mean, this isn't even a super high end restaurant that you're paying $100 a plate for by the end of the night. I'm very fascinated by it. I'd love to know the outcome of your conversation with them.
27:45
Peter Dunn
Yeah, I don't know. Here's the other thing. I was in La. A couple month ago or so, and restaurants out there, really nice restaurants at the bottom, they'll say we add 4% to every tab to pay for health care for our staff. And I'm like, okay, I can get down with that. But even the math of that is weird to me. Like, if we have a big party and we have $300 on the tab and we're paying 4% of that versus someone's there for the exact amount of time. They don't order a booze or anything else, and they don't have 4% added to it. I struggle with that.
28:25
Damian Dunn
Sounds like this is a cause that you need to take up with.
28:31
Peter Dunn
I don't think so.
28:33
Damian Dunn
Start a YouTube channel, some petitions. I think this may be your big break, Pete.
28:40
Peter Dunn
See, this is what I can't tell. I'm interested in this, but I don't want it to turn into like, I'm Andy Rooney on you know what bothers me? Tipping. I don't mind tipping. The math is fascinating to me. Michelle makes a good point on Facebook Live. How would people react to increased meal prices in lieu of tipping? That's a really fair question, and I think it's the apprehension over that question as to why no one has just said that's what we're going to do. Well, some people have, but not enough.
29:10
Damian Dunn
Well, you don't tip in Europe. You just pay for your food and leave. Or at least some places in Europe. So it's very cultural here and it could obviously change and people would adjust, but it's just the way we do things, right?
29:29
Peter Dunn
D***. Can you have a backup story in case this Amazon thing goes off the rails too quick?
29:35
Damian Dunn
I will do my very best.
29:41
Peter Dunn
People are like, oh, hey, you guys playing the show really well? And then I'm like, no one's ever said that. No, no one's ever said that. Okay, I'm going to read a lot of this story because it is interesting and then we can react to it. Our good friend Joe Saul Sehai from Stacking Benjamins. He reads things on the air and people like his show. Michelle, I'm with you. I enjoy giving a generous gratuity to folks that provide good service as well. Okay, you ready to go?
30:16
Damian Dunn
Yes.
30:17
Peter Dunn
Who knows? You have a backup here?
30:19
Damian Dunn
I do. I got it.
30:20
Peter Dunn
All right. Three, two, one. Back on the Pete the Planner show. Dame, I saw a news story this week that has me shaking my head. It's about Amazon. Of course, in full disclosure, I don't know why I have to disclose this, but I own lots of shares of Amazon, lots being pretty darn relative lots. To me, the story is this. Amazon is expanding into department stores. They're going to start opening giant brick and mortar stores. And so here's the story from Gizmodo, specifically from the writer Shoshana Wodinski. Now that it's officially swallowed the lion's share of online retail sales, amazon is reportedly eyeing ways to corner our offline shopping, too. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the ecommerce giant is drumming up plans to open several department style stores in a handful of cities across the US. People familiar with the matter told the paper that these stores would help Amazon extend its reach and sales of clothing, household items, electronics, and other.
31:27
Peter Dunn
Areas. It's a smart move from Amazon, but also one that would end up being a privacy nightmare for a company that's seen its fair share of scandals in the space. Okay, so dame I'm going to pause there. I am excited to hear about this privacy nightmare. First glance reaction to this.
31:43
Damian Dunn
Did you know that Amazon sells more clothing than anybody else in the country?
31:49
Peter Dunn
I believe it. I didn't know that, but I believe.
31:51
Damian Dunn
It just seems when I think clothing, I don't think Amazon first what would.
31:56
Peter Dunn
Be your first guess? I would say Nike would be my.
31:59
Damian Dunn
First guess of brand that they sell more of or their primary brand.
32:04
Peter Dunn
No, if you said what company sells more clothing than anywhere else? Actually, I would maybe say Target or Walmart.
32:10
Damian Dunn
Walmart.
32:12
Peter Dunn
An old navy.
32:15
Damian Dunn
No.
32:15
Peter Dunn
How about truck stops?
32:17
Damian Dunn
Do trucker hats count?
32:19
Peter Dunn
Per the Journal, the first states where these department stores are expected to open, including Ohio and California, they're planned to be mid sized at around 30,000 sqft. Smaller than your average Costco or Walmart, but way larger than the Amazon four star stores that generally clock in at around 4000 sqft. Like those four star locations. Sources told the Journal that Amazon's private label products would be featured front and center in these bigger locations alongside wares from other top consumer brands. I'm still trying to figure out where the privacy issues are. Come on, article. Do you see where the privacy issues would be?
32:58
Damian Dunn
No, I don't even see where you're reading the story at.
33:01
Peter Dunn
Well, that's true. No, I'm just saying in general, like if you think through it no, I'm.
33:05
Damian Dunn
Having a real hard time. Unless it's I mean, they haven't been hacked, have they?
33:10
Peter Dunn
No. It says Amazon's always collected data on its shoppers and sellers. But the past few years have seen the company make a serious push to woo advertisers away from platforms like Instagram and YouTube. And that woo worked. Woo woo them worked because Amazon could offer what those platforms couldn't data about every purchase, every search, and every wish list from every Amazon customer. Okay, so then here's what they would do. They would dame everything you purchase in there. There would be data points on that, which would then they'd connect to your bigger data file and know more about you. But that's already happening. That already happens at Target and Walmart. You swipe your debit card or credit card unless you're paying in cash. That's all becoming part of our credit files anyway.
34:00
Damian Dunn
And those stores are tracking all your purchases already. And they put together very accurate algorithms that can predict certain things in your life before potentially you even know it or you've even announced it to anybody else. Wasn't there a story in a book that we read, Pete, that Target sent out a packet of so you're expecting coupons to a household and the dad got really upset because it was only his daughter in the household. Turns out she actually was pregnant. And they figured that Target figured that out based on her purchases, which weren't immediately obvious that they should have been putting those dots together. But if you don't think Walmart and Target and whoever else, Kohl's and Kroger, if they're not putting everything together as a giant puzzle on all your purchases, you are sadly mistaken.
34:53
Peter Dunn
Far be it for me to tell Amazon how to run their business, but as a shareholder, I have a vote. I do have a vote via proxy. But I don't understand if you've just wiped out all the department stores with your business model, and one of the reasons you're able to wipe them out is economies of scale. And because they're competing, because they're struggling, because they have so much real estate they had to pay for, why join up on all of that real estate issues? Dame? Is it because they've already wiped them out and lowered commercial real estate space and so they feel like they can come in, buy it cheap? Why in the world would you do that? I think they're getting ahead of themselves here.
35:33
Damian Dunn
I think they're looking for more content for Amazon Prime Video stuff so they can just make a movie about all of this and then put it out there and go for that. But doesn't this seem like a bad horror movie where the villain assumes the identity of the people that he kills off and starts to live as them? Amazon has gone in and wiped out all sorts of box stores or other retailers, and now they are becoming a brick and mortar retailer themselves.
35:59
Peter Dunn
Speaking of horror movies, did you see the news that came out today that Tesla why did I say it that way? Tesla has a new robot called the Tesla Bot that they're about to release. Did you see the story?
36:13
Damian Dunn
This is the story that I had in backup.
36:15
Peter Dunn
Well, while far from fully self driving that's amazing that we both had this as the backup.
36:22
Damian Dunn
Yeah.
36:23
Peter Dunn
You think we're not the same person? Tesla's artificial intelligence systems are quite impressive. They plan on using that expertise to help with menial tasks. With the Tesla bot. Standing five foot eight inches tall and weighing 125 pounds, same. The AIpowered bot is a bipedal humanoid robot aimed at revealing pardon me, relieving humans of duties that are dangerous or downright boring. Still, in early development, the goal is for the robot to be capable of lifting up to 45 pounds and moving at up to 5 mph. Same. Using dozens of actuators hidden within its sleek shell with a screen in the face to display information, or perhaps just make it a little less menacing. Dame, did you see the first glance at what this product might look like?
37:10
Damian Dunn
Yeah, it's terrifying.
37:11
Peter Dunn
Oh, my gosh. Anyone at Tesla ever seen a movie? Any sci-fi movie. If this happens, it's over. Like, forget climate change, the robots are going to kill us.
37:24
Damian Dunn
Yeah. The good news is Elon's a genius. The better news is he's really bad at hitting deadlines. So the fact that the possibility of this really happening anytime soon is really slow.
37:40
Peter Dunn
I think the bigger point here is you've got these really big successful companies, quotation marks around successful companies, and you get their need and their desire to innovate, but then sometimes those innovations fall completely flat, like an online retailer saying, now we're going to open giant department stores. Do you remember when Gateway remember the computer company Gateway with the cows and whatnot sure do. Is it Gateway 2000 with that name of the company? Remember when they opened their mall stores? That didn't go too well.
38:13
Damian Dunn
No, not at all.
38:15
Peter Dunn
Is Netflix going to open stores next?
38:19
Damian Dunn
There's plenty of Blockbusters that are just sitting vacant right now.
38:23
Peter Dunn
We've talked about that before, right? The fact that years and years ago, netflix came along and tried to join up with Blockbuster and Blockbuster just laughed in their face and then Netflix killed them.
38:34
Damian Dunn
Yeah, that didn't work out so well for Blockbuster.
38:38
Peter Dunn
Were you ever on the Netflix platform where you got sent a DVD in the mail every few weeks or whatever?
38:44
Damian Dunn
No, I never bought into it at that point.
38:47
Peter Dunn
We did. So you would get like which is strange because there's nothing Netflix is about them sending you a physical DVD in the mail other than you ordered it on the net, but they would you'd watch it whenever and then you'd send it back. And then the next one, your list would just arrive at your house. It sort of made sense before streaming became a thing.
39:08
Damian Dunn
Can you still get DVDs from them?
39:10
Peter Dunn
I think that's a hard no, I'm not sure. I don't believe so.
39:17
Damian Dunn
If we're talking retro and vintage, I mean, it seems like that'll be a killer service in the future.
39:21
Peter Dunn
Dame, I promised it earlier. But coming up after the break, possibly one of the biggest wastes of money of the week, of all time here on the show. Been doing this segment for, I want to say, like 13 years. Other than a dog running service in Chicago, there's these people, instead of walking your dog, they would take your dog for a run, which I found to be an incredible waste of money. This is right up there. So coming up after the break, everyone set your clock, set your recorder, record this, put it out on YouTube yourself. This will be the greatest waste of money you've ever heard of. All that is next right here on the Pete the Planner Show. I'm Pete the Planner into that segment 3 seconds early. Hey, Neil Brown, friend of mine. Restaurant tour is in the comment section. Neil, are you still here?
40:07
Peter Dunn
Because if so, I'm going to ask you to I'm going to share a link and invite you to come on the show right now to talk about tipping. If you're still in the comments and you want to come on the show in the comments. But I'm here, and I'm camera ready, girlfriend, and I will come on the show because I have tipping questions for you, and I will bring you on. So you're there. You're there. If not, you're not. Dame, how is it that you had the same backup story as I had?
40:30
Damian Dunn
I don't know, and it's a little crazy, but why are we surprised at this point?
40:37
Peter Dunn
No, we share some sensibilities. I'm going on a date today.
40:43
Damian Dunn
Does Mrs. Planner know?
40:45
Peter Dunn
She'll be there.
40:46
Damian Dunn
Oh, well, fantastic.
40:48
Peter Dunn
Yeah, we're going to a little lunch action.
40:54
Damian Dunn
Do you know where? I mean? Of course you know where. Because you've already looked at the menu.
40:58
Peter Dunn
Yes, actually, I was looking at the menu last night, and she said, Why are you looking at the menu? We've been there 10,000 times. And I said, Why are you up in my jibs? Mary says she disagrees that dog running is a waste of time. She thinks it's a very good use of money. All right.
41:13
Damian Dunn
How often do you order the special versus something that you've scouted?
41:17
Peter Dunn
That's a good question. That's a good question. 5% of the time, order is special. I'm going to Floretta in early November to speak at a conference. I've already scouted out the area I'll be in and all the restaurants around it, and I've looked at probably 1314 menus, and I've already decided what I'm going to order at, like, five of the restaurants.
41:47
Damian Dunn
It's just efficient, though, isn't it?
41:51
Peter Dunn
I think so. My wife would argue it's inefficient.
41:56
Damian Dunn
She doesn't know anything.
41:58
Peter Dunn
Come on. Quit talking about my wife. All right, here we go. New segment. O'Neill's not here anymore. He left. Must have got bored. This week's biggest waste of money of the week, right here on the Pete the Planner show is Fuel Cafe Latte V Three powder. This week's biggest waste of money of the week, right here on the Pizza Planner show is Fuel Cafe Latte V Three powder. Getting a complete, nutritionally balanced meal with no prep mess or planning seems like a dream. Fuel makes that a reality with their V Three powder. At just 400 calories, every serving contains the perfect balance of protein, carbs, fats, and fiber, along with 27 essential vitamins and minerals. With everything your body needs from food. Fuel will keep you fuller for longer with its slow releasing carbs and comes in a variety of satisfying flavors, including a new cafe latte option.
42:51
Peter Dunn
Just mix it with water in the included shaker and enjoy 100% plant based, gluten free meal. Each bag contains about 34 servings, which means each meal will only set you back a dollar 91 subscribe for monthly deliveries. Two bags in each order. Price starts at $72 for a giant sack of blended meal. Dame, were just talking about food during the break. I love food. Why would anyone do this, you'll say? Well, it's a breakthrough for people with poverty and hunger. No, it's not. This is a high end engineered product. Why would you do this?
43:38
Damian Dunn
That's for somebody who's either on the go or maybe trying to make sure that their diet is tailored in a very specific way as they're trying to reach fitness goals. And it sounds like it's pretty darn reasonably priced as well.
43:52
Peter Dunn
How long until I have this?
43:54
Damian Dunn
I can't believe you haven't had it already with some of the changes you've made.
43:59
Peter Dunn
Some of those changes have come back. I stepped on the old bathroom scale the other day. Every once in a while you lose things, you find them again. And I found a couple of those pounds.
44:10
Damian Dunn
That's all right. I mean, are you still doing the running with Mrs. Planner?
44:14
Peter Dunn
Yeah, we ran this week. Dame, what's in the news?
44:18
Damian Dunn
Your regular reminder to freeze your credit this time around is brought to you by T Mobile. They said they learned late last week that an individual in an online forum claimed to have breached its systems and was attempting to sell stolen customer data. The company confirmed on August 16 that in fact, it was hacked, adding the following day that attackers made off with personal data from nearly 48 million people. 48 million people?
44:47
Peter Dunn
This actually blends into our real financial talk here. You've got to freeze your credit.
44:52
Damian Dunn
Yeah, totally. It's been a while since we've hit on this.
44:56
Peter Dunn
I feel like the easiest way to do it. It's slightly a pain in the neck, but not that bad. You go to each of the three credit bureaus equifax, experian and TransUnion and you place a freeze on your credit file. It means that people won't send you pre approved credit card offers. It will also mean if you're part of a data breach, no one can take that information and open new credit lines in your name. It is amongst the biggest no brainers of all. No brainers?
45:25
Damian Dunn
I think it's easier than most people think. It will be an unfreezing it when you need to unfreeze it. Easy, easy. Go online. Unfreeze it. Especially if you know which credit bureau whoever you're dealing with is going to check. It can be done in five minutes. It's no problem. It's free in the state of Indiana. You may have to pay a little bit in some states, but it's going to be nominal, especially considering all of the protection that it will give you.
45:51
Peter Dunn
I cut you off. In the middle of that story, it seemed like you were going to share another interesting element to the 48 million people breached.
45:57
Damian Dunn
No, nothing interesting.
45:59
Peter Dunn
Then what else is in the news?
46:00
Damian Dunn
Anyone who has tequila right now is selling it at the price of gold. That's how one Mexican agave producer described the tequila boom to the Los Angeles times. And a boom it is, thanks to a surge in brands started by celebrities including Dwayne Johnson, the Rock, nick Jonas and the OG tequila influencer. Yeah, george Clooney Mexico is producing 800% more tequila than it did 20 years ago.
46:27
Peter Dunn
Pete, you know the six degrees of Kevin Bacon? You know, that whole thing? Yeah. I have, I believe, one degree or two degrees of separation from the George Clooney tequila brand that I'm not going to necessarily explain on the air, but have I ever explained this to you off the air?
46:42
Damian Dunn
I don't think so. But doesn't everybody just have one if they go to the store and buy a bottle?
46:46
Peter Dunn
No, I mean, like super direct to the actual Mr. Do you like the tequila?
46:53
Damian Dunn
You know what? I've never gotten into it.
46:56
Peter Dunn
I like it. I'll say this, I'm really glad I didn't discover I liked it until I was out of college. Oh, you know what I mean? Because it just seems like one of those things that you could really hurt yourself, hurt your voice, then just damage an entire radio career before it started.
47:12
Damian Dunn
I'm pretty sure the same can be said with basically any alcohol.
47:17
Peter Dunn
Absolutely true. So people who make it down in Mexico and harvest the agave they're getting to call their shots, market prices for those raw materials and products are going up. Right.
47:29
Damian Dunn
Did you say call the shots?
47:31
Peter Dunn
I did, but I didn't mean to. Man if you make an inadvertent joke, do you get to take credit for the joke?
47:41
Damian Dunn
I think so. I think it works that way.
47:43
Peter Dunn
It doesn't feel the same. I would have loved to have come up with that. Yeah. Bourbon, obviously was the big boom for a while. It's going to find its way through all the different liquors. Right? I mean, we're going to get into gin. It'll be like a big gin boom, a gin blossom, if you will.
48:03
Damian Dunn
There you go. Like, pine tree growers are going to suddenly be really popular because the bathtub gin industry is spiking.
48:11
Peter Dunn
Juniper vodka became that thing for a while that everyone was making sort of a novelty vodka brand. But I don't really get down on the vodka, so who really cares?
48:21
Damian Dunn
No.
48:22
Peter Dunn
What else is in the news?
48:23
Damian Dunn
Mastercard is phasing out the use of magnetic stripes on its credit card and debit cards over the next decade as the industry moves towards more secure or convenient alternatives like chips and contactless payments. The company announced it says that the first payments network to phase out technology which dates back to the 1960s will be them. They're going to lead the way on this, Pete. Mastercard says the transition will start in 2024, when the stripe will no longer be required on new cards in regions like Europe, where chip cards are already widely used.
48:53
Peter Dunn
Can I admit to something embarrassing?
48:55
Damian Dunn
Sure.
48:57
Peter Dunn
Several years ago on this show, I made fun of a particular credit card I don't even remember because of it was like a metal credit card. It could have been like an American Express card that was metal, and it had some weight to it. And I was like, who cares? I was out to dinner with some friends not too long ago, and I pull out my debit card to pay, and they pull out their method of payment, and they pulled out one of these stinking, like they threw it on the table, and it was like, dame pretty awesome. It was pretty awesome. And I was like, wow, why do I want that? That's how much these credit card companies are in our head, is that they somehow created a piece of payment methodology that makes me want one.
49:45
Damian Dunn
Yeah, apple makes their physical cards, and you have to request one, by the way, out of titanium. It's amazing.
49:55
Peter Dunn
Do you think we're going to get to a point when this whole Pete the planar thing is all said and done, whether it be a week from now or 1015 years from now, where everything I've ever said, every hot take I've ever expressed, just proves to be wrong?
50:09
Damian Dunn
No, it can't be every hot take.
50:12
Peter Dunn
A lot of them. That's the thing. I've said it before in the show. The thing about having a perspective or giving takes in the mass media is that you're wrong a lot because you just go so binary. You're just like, what's this? Or it's this? If it's not this, and it's that, and that's no good. And then you end up just embarrassing yourself if you're not self aware and willing to admit it.
50:37
Damian Dunn
And yet those people appear on their shows the very next day.
50:40
Peter Dunn
Again, I said it two weeks ago. I believe on this show, I have zero desire to appear on TV ever again, and I'm saying it right now. I don't care anymore.
50:55
Damian Dunn
Not even local spots for I don't care.
50:59
Peter Dunn
Well, commercials are different because I feel like well, I do those college choice commercials because I feel like it influences people to save for their kids college education. So I don't really view that as a TV appearance as much as trying to help people. But there was, like, a buzz to it. I just don't care anymore anyway. No one cares what I care about, so that's all right. Dame what a show. So you would take the hostess job, then the bartending job.
51:31
Damian Dunn
Yeah. And I think there's a significant gap between hostess and bartender.
51:37
Peter Dunn
City good vibes, because good vibes are all that's in the budget. He's damian. Dunn. Don. He's a radio star. I too. This is the show. It's a weird show. I mean, I'm sure we'll talk about it afterwards. That was just weird.
51:53
Damian Dunn
You know what the good news is?
51:54
Peter Dunn
No one cares.
51:55
Damian Dunn
Yeah, that's exactly right.
51:58
Peter Dunn
Jameson, of course he's got one of those metal cards. Danza says, people in my area are all about the vodka. I have picked up handles of vodka for five different customers over the last week. One of them actually ordered two handles. Wow. Now that's a party. That's right. Danza delivers, like, stuff drizzly or postmates or something like that.
52:20
Damian Dunn
All right.
52:21
Peter Dunn
I do think, Dame, it's going to get to a point where every hot take I've had in the last ten years is going to be proven wrong, and I'm going to admit it.
52:32
Damian Dunn
Do you remember when you said you were going to be an Uber driver for a weekend or something like that?
52:37
Peter Dunn
I did it.
52:38
Damian Dunn
You did it?
52:39
Peter Dunn
Yeah. I didn't know that. Yeah.
52:41
Damian Dunn
Maybe you should be a server for a night.
52:46
Peter Dunn
I've thought of this. I've absolutely thought of this. Here's the reason I'm not. I had a friend in radio probably ten years ago that took on different jobs to show people how easy those jobs were and that people should quit complaining about that jobs. And it came off real gross. And so what I don't want to do is to do that and then get this perspective of, look, I can do it anyway. And not that I would. I think I'd pretty be a pretty good server if I can just get out of my own head that I have to talk to people. Right. I think I could do it. But then I would never want to come on a platform like this and be like, I did it, and I made $85 that night. You know what I mean?
53:35
Damian Dunn
Yeah.
53:36
Peter Dunn
Maybe I'd do it. I would just have to keep it between you and me.
53:40
Damian Dunn
Well, then what's the point?
53:41
Peter Dunn
Why don't you and Cassie just come to our house for dinner, and then I'll just serve you and you have to tip me.
53:45
Damian Dunn
Big deal.
53:46
Peter Dunn
All right, done. All right, that's it. I want to edit the show because I want to go on a date with my wife, and then I've got youth soccer stuff I got to deal with.
53:59
Damian Dunn
I can hardly wait for the stories.
54:03
Peter Dunn
Dame, I should tell people. The email that I sent earlier this week, I told you about it yesterday. Here's an email that I sent to someone in the midst of trying to schedule a youth soccer game. Oh, this is so awkward. But you know what? It felt necessary. It felt necessary. I got to find it. No one cares. But it is sort of interesting. Okay, you know what? It's not worth it. It's not worth it. Basically, I said I'm not trying to break the rules. I'm simply trying to find solutions. I wish you were too awkward. Okay, I got to go. This is just getting dumb. Goodbye, everyone. Stay getting money.
