00:03
Peter Dunn
Hi. Today I want to tell you about the greatest pleasure I've ever had in my life that occurred this week. And to help you understand the deep pleasure I felt, I'm going to bring on two people who probably don't want to be part of this moment right now. That's Kristen Ahlenius and Damian Dunn. Damian's out of the screen. Hey, guys.
00:22
Kristen Ahlenius
Don hello.
00:25
Peter Dunn
Now, you all know this story. You've heard it damage. How many times have you heard this story?
00:30
Damian Dunn
Only twice.
00:31
Peter Dunn
Okay. Kristen? Only once.
00:33
Kristen Ahlenius
Only the one time.
00:35
Peter Dunn
All right. So our poor coworker Molly has heard this, like, five times. But I do want to share a story with you all that was to me, in all sincerity, one of the most pleasurable experiences of my life, and I want to share it with you right now. Good day. Andy there on the live stream. Okay. I want to take you back 168 at some hours. So last week, last Friday, I get home, actually. I wake up in the morning, and our refrigerator was on the fritz. Did I talk about our refrigerator on the show? I don't think so, no. So our refrigerator is 16 years old. 16 years old. And anytime something is home, appliance is 16 years old, and it starts acting up. Damian it's hard to think that a it's going to be worth repairing it, right? 100% a 16 year old refrigerator.
01:29
Peter Dunn
And so the control board is just, like, flashing or whatever, and Mrs. Planner is like, well, I'll go to Lowe's, and I'll start looking at other fridges. And I was like, I don't really want to spend $2,000 right now. And so I said, Honey, I think I got it. She's like, what's that now? And I was like, no, I got it. I'm going to repair it. So I spent some time and I did some research on what I thought the problem was. And then I went to this appliance repair online store and bought a circuit board, like a circuit board with transistors and all these different things on it, because I think that was a problem. And Sunday night, around 10:15 p.m., after we've moved all of our food out of refrigerator because it's not refrigerated anymore, we moved it onto our porch in coolers.
02:19
Peter Dunn
I live in Carmel. You can't put coolers on your porch in Carmel. You will get kicked out of Carmel. So were on the verge of getting evicted from our entire community, and this is the last day all our food was going to be ruined because the next day was going to warm up a little bit anyway. And I will also note it's going to take a couple of days to get a refrigerator delivered as well. So Sunday night, the part comes at 1015 via Amazon delivery. I put on a nine minute YouTube video. I install the new circuit board. I plug it back in, and, ladies and gentlemen, for $132 I saved my 16 year old fridge. The old circuit board is right here in my hand on the pizza planner livestream. There it is, everyone see it? Damien here's why I bring this up.
03:12
Peter Dunn
My wife looked at me with such love in her eyes. Look at that. She hugged me. She's like, oh, my gosh. And I said, Honey, we had a clothes dryer repairman to the house a few months ago. Did you hug him when he fixed it? Because this is you. You're a little over the top, but look at this thing, Dame. That's pretty intense, right? Yeah.
03:34
Damian Dunn
Can you point to the transistor on that board?
03:37
Peter Dunn
I can, actually. There are seven transistors on this board. And here's the other thing, Dame. I watched an alternate YouTube video that said you could actually just buy the transistors for $5 and then resolder them in place. But I said no, and I saved $2,000.
04:01
Damian Dunn
It's great. Yeah. I'm probably not as proud of you as Mrs. Planner, but I'm proud of you.
04:10
Peter Dunn
It's funny. After it got done, Sarah goes, Pardon me? Mrs. Planner says, oh, I bet you're going to tell Dame about this. And I said, I am. And he goes, he'll care, but he replaces his own sump pump, so I don't think you're going to impress him that much. That's what she said.
04:28
Damian Dunn
She's not wrong.
04:29
Peter Dunn
Yeah, I know. Kristen, how are you doing?
04:33
Kristen Ahlenius
I'm doing well. How are you?
04:35
Peter Dunn
Kristen's hosting a progressive dinner this evening, sort of.
04:39
Kristen Ahlenius
Yeah.
04:41
Peter Dunn
Can you imagine? Like, have you ever done a progressive dinner? Do you know what it.
04:47
Damian Dunn
Yeah, yeah.
04:48
Peter Dunn
I've never done one, but the concept.
04:51
Damian Dunn
Is odd to I mean, maybe it sounds fun in theory, and maybe just the people were with and the houses were at were lame. That could be it, too. But.
05:05
Peter Dunn
It just seems like DUIs. It just seems like it's like we're going to go here and have one.
05:12
Damian Dunn
Year for a holiday work party at a place I was formerly employed. We kind of did a progressive dinner, but we had a limo take us around to all these little hole in the wall bars around northeast Indiana.
05:24
Peter Dunn
Oh, that's fun.
05:24
Kristen Ahlenius
That's not a progressive dinner.
05:27
Peter Dunn
That's a bar crawl.
05:29
Kristen Ahlenius
Quite different.
05:30
Damian Dunn
We had food at each of them.
05:32
Peter Dunn
I mean, speaking of limousines, Dame, there is a article in the Times this morning. The long demise of the stretch limousine, the one time symbol of affluence, has fallen out of favor as the rise of Uber, the Great Recession, and regulations hasten a shift to chauffeur vans and SUVs. Do you remember when you're a kid, one of your budies on their birthday would get a limo and you'd all ride around and hang out the top? That was a very early 90s moment.
06:00
Damian Dunn
I've only been in one limo in my life.
06:03
Peter Dunn
Really? Your wedding?
06:05
Damian Dunn
No, that business party.
06:08
Peter Dunn
Yeah, of course. I should listen, prom. Kristen, do you take a limo to prom?
06:15
Kristen Ahlenius
No, definitely not.
06:17
Peter Dunn
All right.
06:19
Kristen Ahlenius
Never been.
06:19
Peter Dunn
Okay, everybody, this week's travel is just for a pete on the road. What do we call it? Where in the world is Peter? What?
06:31
Damian Dunn
I was wondering if you're going to really stretch that out or add extra syllables to Peter or throw a dun in there. No peter.
06:39
Peter Dunn
Well, pilot Jeremy has joined us on the live stream right now. Jeremy, I am flying your airline this Sunday morning early from my home city to Minneapolis where I'm going to have like a 90 hours layover before I fly to Seattle for another 90 hours layover. And then I fly to bend, Oregon, actually redmond airport, then drive to bend. So I'm going to be in bend, Oregon for a day, actually 15 hours next week. So I'm pretty excited about that.
07:07
Damian Dunn
I sense a meet up happening. I'm going to have an email in my inbox probably before the show is over, trying to figure out logistics on this.
07:14
Peter Dunn
I mean, Jeremy, think about this. I'm going to be in Minneapolis, a major hub for your airline for 3 hours and 55 minutes on Sunday morning. We have to intersect.
07:26
Damian Dunn
He's a west coast guy, Pete.
07:28
Peter Dunn
Okay. Well, seattle. I'll see him in Seattle. I will be sleepless. Okay, let's do a show. I don't think no one cares about this. We had a company happy hour this week here at the HQ. I had a kombucha. Me and jeech had a kombucha. I felt very.
07:51
Damian Dunn
I'll let listeners try and guess who was not in attendance at that happy hour.
07:57
Peter Dunn
You and Kristen.
08:00
Damian Dunn
Yeah. Two thirds of the show.
08:02
Peter Dunn
You're welcome to come down. There's a limo. Just get a oh, all right.
08:06
Damian Dunn
I've died to have a company card.
08:07
Peter Dunn
In 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, askpete@petetheplanner.com, and here's what happens. You know, it's really up in the like, sometimes it could get caught in spam. It'll never see your email, but sometimes we see it and we're like, not good enough. Not going to answer it. Other times we like it and we read it on the air. And that's what we, as in kristen dame and I will do today. Kristen Elaine is director of education at your moneyline. Hello.
08:39
Kristen Ahlenius
Hello.
08:40
Peter Dunn
Damian dunn, vice president of advice at your moneyline. Hello.
08:45
Damian Dunn
Good day.
08:46
Peter Dunn
All right, so let's do an email that came in about a person's benefits at work. Good day. Pete dame and miscellaneous. You get that. My question for you is about employee benefits. My current employer is asking for anonymous feedback on what improvements and changes we would like to see regarding our benefits and work culture. I'm going to pause here. That's great. I mean, if you've got an employer that cares enough to ask, that's amazing.
09:17
Damian Dunn
Agreed.
09:19
Peter Dunn
Okay, so I'm going to get weird here. I know, technically I'm on the leadership team here, and as is Dame, but wouldn't it be weird if your company never asks questions about this? Wouldn't it be a little weird? Or do you feel, like, put out if they don't, or if they're big enough, they can't possibly kristen, how do you think about this?
09:38
Kristen Ahlenius
Do companies regularly ask employees what benefits they want?
09:44
Peter Dunn
Possibly, yeah.
09:46
Damian Dunn
I think mean, if I think about when were younger, I don't think companies really asked.
09:54
Peter Dunn
No, I don't either, at all.
09:56
Damian Dunn
But now I think it's much more common because we know there's a big issue with attraction and retention of good employees, so they've got to try and make sure their work environment is everything they can reasonably do to keep their employees happy.
10:11
Peter Dunn
I also know we may have talked about this on the show recently. There are certain organizations and industries and companies in which you can compensate people a lot, but the benefits stink, or you can't compensate people very well, but the benefits are amazing. And so I think depending on your industry and the size of your company, that could be a reality. Back to the email. While I have come up with some suggestions already, I was curious to hear your opinions on what benefits you consider to be the most important for an employer to provide and what would be considered a good package. I thought you may have some insights on this topic from helping business with your money line and could share some of the typical benefits that companies provide. Yeah, I love this topic. For example, what is a typical good 401 match? 50% up to 6%, et cetera.
11:02
Peter Dunn
I'm going to go through a few questions here, and then we're going to come back and answer them. What percentage of health insurance premium costs are typically covered by the employer? What other benefits have been the most important for employers to offer to remain competitive and retain employees? We're still able to work remotely, which has been very popular among my coworkers. Thanks in advance for some additional context. This is a small business, less than 25 people in the Midwest providing It consulting services for over a decade. All right, where do you want to start? You want to start with something soft, like hybrid work options and working from home? It's an option. It is a cost free benefit, but one that can deliver bang for its buck. Kristen you work remotely? Dame you work remotely. I guess if you were required to come to an office every day, you might not work here?
12:03
Damian Dunn
If I was required to go to that office every day, no, I would not work there, not at least without some significant pay raises, so I could afford a very fuel efficient car.
12:13
Peter Dunn
Yeah. Kristen when you moved back to the Midwest and you had this job, when you moved back to the Midwest, if you had to work in the office therefore move to Indianapolis. Would you have mean speak freely there's not like a weird test. But it was very important for you to move where you moved, right?
12:32
Kristen Ahlenius
Yeah. And not just having to go into the office, but having that flexibility because life just is so busy. When I think about even the fact that I take for granted sometimes I was just thinking about this the other day. I sometimes take for granted the fact that I don't have to pay someone to let my dogs out, like if I've had a long day. So even that flexibility is huge. So maybe not necessarily a fully remote option, but to your point, something like hybrid or hey, if today is going to be crazy long, do some of it in the office and then go home and do some of it.
13:09
Peter Dunn
Yeah. Dame, you got to think that the pandemic, it definitely created this environment where employers are trying to be really smart about these.
13:17
Damian Dunn
Yeah, I know my perspective changed on this a little bit, and I'm sure your perspective changed on this specific benefit quite a bit. And if your business sets up well to where you can offer this to your employees, I think it's worth considering.
13:35
Peter Dunn
I think so. Now, look, as Dame, when you surprised us all this week here at the office, what you got to experience was, man, a lot can get done face to face that just can't get done on zoom. So there's the other side of it. Let's go back to these questions, though. A typical 401K match is 50% up to 6%. Good. I'll say a typical match is usually somewhere it nets out to 3% to 4%. I believe the national average is somewhere like 3.7 or 4.3. But I also want to know what this person has is what's called a stretch match, which I actually like a lot, which it still gives them 3%, but they have to put in 6% because it's matched at 50%. Kristen, if you had a stretch match of you had to put in six to get the three, would you be okay with that?
14:28
Kristen Ahlenius
Yes, because I think but there's always a because behavioral finance is my jam. I think that if I didn't, I might not always be as inclined to contribute those few extra percentage points. So I think it behaviorally benefits me and a lot of people.
14:49
Damian Dunn
I would say there's an additional benefit on four hundred and one K that I can't believe you didn't just charge right in and say, this is what a good 401K absolutely should do.
15:00
Peter Dunn
Have a Roth IRA provision.
15:02
Damian Dunn
No, 100% vesting. Yeah, no vesting.
15:08
Peter Dunn
Okay. Yeah. We don't have a vesting schedule, do we? No 100% vesting. That's right. I created the plan. Yeah. We're just 4% and then it's 100% vested. Correct. I got a lot going on, guys. Sometimes I forget things. I will say one thing, that we took a lot of pride in providing here is we pay a lot of a person's health insurance premium. I don't know the percentage because I don't remember, but I want to say it's like, somewhere between 75% to 90%. It is a lot. And I'll just say the smaller the employer, the harder that is to do. I mean, that is very hard to do, but to attract top talent, we had to do it, and I like it. So, Dame, if a person has a small business or they work for a small business, 25 people or less, and they don't have a all, that's not that unusual, right?
16:00
Damian Dunn
No. There are a few different types of accounts that you could consider if you want to get retirement plans in front of your population and it wouldn't be too much of a cost. 401 KS often have some expenses that come along with it for testing and things of that nature. But there are other options that make it pretty darn affordable for you to.
16:21
Peter Dunn
Offer a retirement plan, other benefits that are important. Okay, so again, I'll just tell you what we do, and then people can I mean, you guys know, but you can decide whether this makes sense or not. I think we have, of course, PTO, but we do wellness days. If you're sick or you need just a mental respite, that doesn't count towards PTO, just take care of your business. That includes your kids being sick or your parents being sick or whatever that might be. So I think flexible time off is a inexpensive benefit for some organizations. Dame, do you see it that way?
16:58
Damian Dunn
Yep. I probably would have answered this a little differently five years ago, but I see the value of it now.
17:04
Peter Dunn
All right, here's what we're going to do, actually, because I think we've got the time for it. We're going to come back into the break, talk about some additional benefits that you can talk about and ask about, and then we'll get into another question about I don't know, we want to call it materialism consumerism consumption. That's the next question. Because someone emailed askpete@peteeplanner.com, didn't they, Kristen?
17:25
Kristen Ahlenius
Yes, they did.
17:26
Peter Dunn
Coming up after the break, we'll talk about that. I'm Pete the Planner, and this is the Pete the Planner show. I like that. Our coworkers are laughing that I didn't know that it's 100% vested. But here's the thing. I knew that I created the policy. I just forgot I got a lot going on.
17:42
Damian Dunn
I can't believe they're watching it in HQ two.
17:44
Peter Dunn
Well, get back to work. Get back to work, all of you. Especially you, Ben. I don't trust anybody that uses their middle name as their first name. John, get back to work. Boy. Good time. Jeremy asks, do you think individuals that work at home work more hours or less? I know that American employees already work more hours than most from other countries. I don't know. I'll let you two weigh in on that.
18:17
Damian Dunn
I put in a solid 12 hours a week from home.
18:21
Peter Dunn
The results indicate that.
18:23
Damian Dunn
Yeah.
18:24
Peter Dunn
Thanks, Chris.
18:28
Kristen Ahlenius
I think, for me, I put in more hours as an at home employee than if I worked in an office because I have boundary issues. So that's me. That's not a company problem.
18:39
Peter Dunn
When I worked from home during the pandemic, I definitely put in more hours. That was rough, but I couldn't tell if it was because it was a pandemic or because I got used to doing that. Now, if I work from home, it is not an effective use of time at this point.
18:57
Damian Dunn
You're fixing refrigerators?
19:00
Peter Dunn
I'm a repair man. Hugging my clients. Should have seen the look in her eye. She's like, you accomplished something. And I was like, I know.
19:10
Damian Dunn
Is that sweat on your brow?
19:12
Peter Dunn
I know.
19:13
Damian Dunn
Did you scrape a knuckle?
19:15
Peter Dunn
I did scrape a knuckle. It's funny you ask. Oh, my. Nothing like manual labor, scraping a knuckle. All right, let's come back with a couple more benefits, and we'll hit that other question. You guys good with that? Yeah.
19:25
Damian Dunn
Yes.
19:26
Peter Dunn
All right. And then we'll do our stock picks. Oh, boy, has it gotten worse for me.
19:32
Damian Dunn
Dame, time will tell.
19:35
Peter Dunn
That seems bad. Okay, in three, two, one. Back on the Pete the planner show. Got an email from an emailer. It's just a person, but the fact that they sent an email makes them an emailer anyway. They wanted to know what sort of good benefits should they recommend that their employer has. Dame, we've talked about some of these benefits. What's good, what's bad? Life insurance, disability insurance, vision, dental. Like, these are things that maybe your employer doesn't have to pay everything for, but at least allow you to secure those benefits on a voluntary basis, I think can make some sense, no?
20:17
Damian Dunn
Yeah, it's interesting, especially nowadays when there are so many two income households, on how much those benefits actually get picked up. But just to have that option available to you can make a huge difference on somebody's finances.
20:31
Peter Dunn
Kristen, do you care about the voluntary benefits that we have? Is that impactful to know whatever you want to say?
20:37
Kristen Ahlenius
Yes. Because I think it provides an opportunity to elect into something that I might not be as inclined to go out and do the homework for myself. Like, if we had a service that helped us put together a will, I might have an estate plan. You guys, I don't know.
20:52
Peter Dunn
I'm working on it. That's all passive aggressive. I'm working on it. So how about this? How about financial wellness? Now, that seems like we're really sort of loading us up here. I will note this. There are more wellness benefits that companies of all sizes get into, whether it's nutritional wellness or mental health resources. And, of course, what we do as an organization serving hundreds of companies across the country in financial wellness to make sure that we can problem solve people's financial lives so they can actually focus on their jobs. Kristen, given that you've been in that industry for a very long time, I'm curious, do you see a difference from the smaller companies that are our clients and the people that call from that versus the larger companies? Or is it just people like anyone else who just has financial challenges they need to get past so they can focus on the things they care about?
21:52
Kristen Ahlenius
Can you clarify that question? Are you saying that you think it's more impactful for smaller businesses, like that benefit?
22:01
Peter Dunn
No, I guess what I'm saying is it's like smaller companies employ people just like larger companies. And so the fact that we help people who work at smaller companies, they have the same sorts of problems as the people who work for larger companies. What I'm saying is it's like just because you have a small company doesn't mean your people are completely taken care of or vice versa.
22:22
Kristen Ahlenius
Yes, I completely agree with that because I don't even know how much I think it matters, like what role you might have or what industry you might work in. The way that your problems present themselves may look a little bit different. But I think when you're able to talk to an expert who can help you bring it down to a level that feels manageable and has less anxiety for you because we're all financially stressed, then it doesn't necessarily, like I said, matter whether it's small big. We all have when they come down the same concerns about trying not to live paycheck to paycheck and saving for our future and breaking dependence on income.
23:01
Peter Dunn
Damon, anything you want to add to that or any other benefits that would make sense for a company of 25 people to offer?
23:08
Damian Dunn
I think before you get ready to offer a benefit, especially in a company of that size, make sure you wholeheartedly stand behind it. And it's not just a check the box thing, because if you can communicate it well to your employees and show them the value and the benefit from it, they will get much more value out of it. The more paternalistic you can be on certain things, the bigger impact your dollars buying that benefit are going to take.
23:33
Peter Dunn
Man isn't that not the truth? I mean, it really is. If top down, if it's not important and you expect other people to think it's important, what are you going to do? Even this week we pay a lot for health insurance. We do. And you do too your premiums. And it's like, okay, if you don't get a wellness visit every year, if you don't go get that free doctor's checkup that you are due, what are you doing? You're just wasting your money. Go do it. So I'm doing it on May eigth. What if I come back? I'm like, guys, I got news. I'm pregnant. I don't know what's going to happen. Okay, next email. Good day. Kristen and Co, featuring the Dunn brothers. Oh, I like that. I have a topic that I think may make for some decent discussion. In today's world of overconsumption, it's very easy to afford almost anything a person wants due to the ability to use, financing or buy now, pay later options.
24:27
Peter Dunn
I know this should not be used to afford things you cannot already afford, but what about people who can afford something, but instead choose to pay over a short period of time to maintain cash and investments? Do any of you think it's worth it for someone who can afford something outright to choose a finance? To choose to finance it over a short period of time with no interest? For example, once we move, I plan on purchasing equipment for a home gym for around 4000 American dollars. But instead of spending all of that at once, I could pay an affordable $333 a month over a year instead. For some background, my wife and I are 29 in the process of building a nice but modest home for around $250,000. We've worked hard and have been diligent savers investors over the first six plus years of our working careers.
25:17
Peter Dunn
We have a regular Duplex that cash flows around $2,000 a month and currently live in a condo that will be a rental cash flow around $500 a month once we move into our new Homelander. This year we have $105,000 in 401 KS, 70,000 in Roth IRAs, and $75,000 in non qualified brokerage. We also have $30,000 in cash for a rental property emergency fund and an additional 40K between our checking and savings accounts. Peace and blessings, Dylan. First off, are you looking to adopt? Because I would love to be your son.
25:52
Damian Dunn
Pete, what do you think the likelihood is that Dylan is in finance somewhere, some way, based on how he laid everything out, some of the terms he used. NQ brokerage?
26:03
Peter Dunn
That's a good question. Yeah, NQ stands out to me. I'm going to go. I think he's yeah, that's what I think he is. Kristen, what do you think he is?
26:20
Kristen Ahlenius
I think that maybe like a science e field, but it's very type A, like Enneagram one, Enneagram Three. Just an overachiever.
26:30
Damian Dunn
I think if I had to put money on it dylan's an accountant.
26:35
Peter Dunn
I can see that. I don't think he's in the investing world for a few different reasons, but all the talk about real estate usually people in the investment business don't talk a lot about real estate as their primary sources of investments. True. I have no problem with this. I mean, look, anytime someone emails us with this much detail and these many good things and it's hard to even poke a hole in what they're doing, I trust this person's judgment. Of course. Do it. I have no problem with that. A cash flow is better, Kristen.
27:11
Kristen Ahlenius
I don't have reservations about it. Really, which is kind of surprising, because I tend to be very worried about people's behavior, but I feel like the proof is in what they've been able to create. The only thing would be, did they tell us how much money they make?
27:27
Peter Dunn
No, we can guess.
27:29
Kristen Ahlenius
Maybe if they make an exorbitant amount of money, I might feel a little bit differently because maybe other balances could be higher, but I doubt it. And so for that reason, I don't think I have any reservations.
27:46
Peter Dunn
Dylan, you have to email us back because we're about to guess your household income. Okay. We're about to all guess your household income. Price is right rules. Price is right rules. You cannot go over. Cannot go over. If you go over, you lose. Closest one to the number gets it. Okay. All right, all three of us are looking at this here. Okay, I have my number. We have to write them down. We have to write them down because you guys are cheating sons of guns. All right, I've written mine down. Christy doesn't have writing utensils because she's a millennial. She had to prick her finger and write in blood.
28:28
Kristen Ahlenius
That's exactly what I did.
28:31
Peter Dunn
Dame's got, like, a carpenter's pencil that's.
28:34
Damian Dunn
In the other side of the building. I'm in.
28:37
Peter Dunn
All right, Kristen, you go first.
28:39
Kristen Ahlenius
I'm scared. I don't want to go first.
28:42
Peter Dunn
Boy, high stake.
28:44
Kristen Ahlenius
I wrote 285, but I think.
28:48
Peter Dunn
Well, Kristen's lost. I have not done.
28:52
Damian Dunn
No.
28:52
Peter Dunn
Guaranteed. Gone. No way. Okay, Dame, that's fine. Wait, hold on. What is that? What do you got? No, you're wrong. You're going too. It's 170.
29:02
Damian Dunn
Well, you know what? Let's hold off on judgment until we see stock picks, okay?
29:07
Peter Dunn
I'm good at this. I'm always good at this. I'm terrible at stock picks. The answer is $170,000. Kristen, do you have access to this email account? Oh, we've blown by the segment. Coming up after the break, more on the Pete the Planner show. I'm Pete the planner. Holy cow.
29:25
Damian Dunn
I blew it by 20 seconds. I didn't have my clock started this segment, or I was relying on the two of you to reel us in.
29:33
Peter Dunn
Forget that cares about the stupid syndicated radio show. Let's get to the heart of this. Can we get this person's email address right now?
29:41
Damian Dunn
I don't have I I can get to, no, because it comes to ask.
29:47
Peter Dunn
I sorry, America. Dylan, we have got to know. But here's the thing. Dylan might not listen to the show. Dylan might read the column because it all goes to the same place. And so Dylan might be thinking, I got to write a column about this. Oh, it says Kristen and Co. So that is a podcast listener.
30:04
Damian Dunn
That is true. Is Ashley an HQ? Two today? If Ashley is an HQ two today, get us an email address, please.
30:11
Peter Dunn
Wow. Jiminy Christmas.
30:13
Damian Dunn
I said please.
30:15
Peter Dunn
Just seems like wash my car, wash my stretch limo. Ashley, if you're here, can you please slack me? Then I got to know I'm right I don't like wagering. I find it to be gross, but I'm going to wager with both of you right now. Oh, okay. Kristen?
30:37
Kristen Ahlenius
Oh, no, I don't.
30:39
Peter Dunn
No. One sided. One sided. I will pay you the difference between.
30:46
Damian Dunn
Your guess and hers to have my drafted.
30:53
Peter Dunn
Okay? I don't know if I have the guts to promise things here today. I will buy you lunch the next time you're down here if I'm wrong. Okay, Dame? Next time you're down here, I will buy you lunch again if I'm wrong.
31:10
Damian Dunn
And if I'm wrong, I'll buy my own lunch on the company card.
31:14
Peter Dunn
Don't like you, man. I wonder if I'm going to get a nasty email from the radio station about blowing by 18 seconds. That's not bad. I mean, just a little less Johnny Cougar mellon camp.
31:27
Damian Dunn
Cut a couple of buffers out here and there, and you'll be right on time.
31:31
Peter Dunn
So that means I probably need to take 18 seconds out of the who cares? This is like, prices, right? Okay, so if it's, like, 249, Dame loses.
31:43
Damian Dunn
Okay. It's not going to be, but I.
31:46
Peter Dunn
Should have gone one dollars. I could have just smoked you all. I'm going to tell you why it's 170. Because I'm right.
31:56
Damian Dunn
Oh, that's great.
31:59
Kristen Ahlenius
I really like the logic.
32:03
Peter Dunn
You know what? I'm reconsidering.
32:05
Damian Dunn
They're 29, and they've got 250 or 300,000 between investment accounts, plus a rental and rental condo that they're going to pete, there's no way they've got cash.
32:18
Peter Dunn
I may have done a miscalculation.
32:21
Kristen Ahlenius
Or they've either got cash or they inherited money and they made really smart decisions with it. So that could be then you might be right.
32:30
Peter Dunn
I feel like they live frugally. I feel like they've got a little bit of fire in them.
32:34
Damian Dunn
They could that could be.
32:37
Peter Dunn
All right. Stick by my word.
32:39
Damian Dunn
Okay.
32:40
Kristen Ahlenius
Frugally to the tune of a $4,000 home gym.
32:45
Damian Dunn
Well, take all the money they're saving on Anytime Fitness.
32:49
Peter Dunn
Yeah. All right, let's do the stock picks. Oh, boy. All right, let's not blow by this segment. I don't want the screen.
33:03
Damian Dunn
Are we doing 16 seconds less or just letting Earl who cares? Did I give up?
33:14
Peter Dunn
In three, two, one. Back on the Pete the Planner show.
33:19
Damian Dunn
Sorry for the abrupt end of the.
33:21
Peter Dunn
Last segment, but I lost track of time and got to pay them bills. Every year on this show, we make predictions as to what the stock market might do in the coming year. And as I hope you know, it's for fun, it's for entertainment purposes. Sometimes I might make a pick just to make you giggle. I'm not really trying to guess right, but the most important element to all of this is we do not want you to take action on what our predictions are. Kristen, that is a sincere request. Correct.
33:55
Kristen Ahlenius
That is of the utmost sincerity. Do not listen to us. Do not act on this. This is not financial advice, and it is going to become very clear very shortly why you should not do as we say.
34:06
Peter Dunn
And just because a person slaps their name on the title of the show doesn't mean they know more than other people. And so, Dame, take us down the path to enlightenment, please.
34:17
Damian Dunn
Pete, would you like to start with the winners or losers picks?
34:21
Peter Dunn
Well, for me, it's two of the same. Whatever you got.
34:26
Damian Dunn
All right, let's start with winners. Pete, as you might recall, do you remember who you picked for your winner?
34:31
Peter Dunn
This I don't remember anything.
34:33
Damian Dunn
Okay.
34:33
Peter Dunn
All right. Grumpy.
34:35
Damian Dunn
Pete went really bold and went banking in 2023. He chose bank of America as his winner this year. And as you may or may not remember, the banking industry has been rock solid through the first quarter and such. So far in 2023, Pete, bank of America has returned a stellar negative twelve point 10% for the year.
35:00
Peter Dunn
Okay, so I'm not doing well on that one.
35:02
Damian Dunn
What do you choose?
35:03
Peter Dunn
What do we choose?
35:05
Damian Dunn
I mean, we have to see the rest of the picks. You can't really judge just off of one return. I chose Apple. Tim Apple has returned 30.18%. Not a negative 30.18, but a positive 30.18%. And Kristen went with a very contentious pick of Tesla as her winner for this year. As you remember, towards the end of last year, there was all the Twitter kerfuffle, and we just weren't sure on how that was going to work out. Well, it's working out pretty well because Tesla is up 36.19% for the year. That's right. Kristen is leading the winner category with a 36.19% that's almost 50 points more than Pete's pick.
35:54
Peter Dunn
Podium finish, though. Top three.
35:55
Damian Dunn
True.
35:59
Peter Dunn
Okay, so needless to say, again, this is just for entertainment purposes. It's not like we're Jim Kramer where we're like, do this, and then like, two months later, they're out of business, and he's like, do this. We're telling you, don't do this.
36:15
Damian Dunn
One of us might be like Jim Kramer, but mean your kiss of death right now, man. You're Jim Damer only because that's a name that you came up in a slap happy fit on the way back from Chicago.
36:31
Peter Dunn
Oh, man, that worked out all right. What about the losers?
36:34
Damian Dunn
Losers. Well, similar name. Pete went with Tesla because he doesn't like people. So his loser pick is up 36.19%.
36:49
Peter Dunn
I'm so good I can't even lose. I'm so good I can't even lose. People like, how's it going? I'm like, if there anybody better, I'd be lying. I don't know.
36:58
Damian Dunn
I went with Xerox, as you remember, Kristen's favorite paper company, Xerox?
37:03
Kristen Ahlenius
Yes.
37:05
Damian Dunn
I am up 8.27% for the year, so I am still in positive territory. Not nearly as positive as Pete, but I'm still making money. Kristen, the smartest of all, chose Rite Aid. She's down 35.1% for her loser.
37:24
Peter Dunn
That's unbelievable. Pete, take over my portfolio.
37:28
Damian Dunn
That's a 70 point spread between your pick and her pick in case we're keeping track at home.
37:36
Peter Dunn
Christmas. Wow.
37:37
Kristen Ahlenius
Kristen, I feel like we should not brag so much about this because I feel like at the end of the year, this is going to come right back and get me.
37:46
Peter Dunn
We'll see. Well, I feel like I'm going to fare much better in the next one. All right, Dame, S and P 500.
37:53
Damian Dunn
Pick for the year. Now we'll have to do a little bit of mental math to extrapolate where this could end up. Pete, you chose 19% up for the year. I chose two because I'm a pessimist at heart, and you all know this.
38:11
Peter Dunn
Yes.
38:12
Damian Dunn
And Kristen chose 13% so far. Year to date, we're looking at about seven and three quarters percent for the year. Seven and three quarters percent. So how are the two of you feeling on this? Are there any revisions? Are you good with 13 and 19?
38:29
Peter Dunn
Yeah. What do you think, Kristen? Are you feeling good about your pick?
38:33
Kristen Ahlenius
I feel like you're just trying to get into my investor's mind here. I feel okay. I feel okay about it. There's a lot of year left. There's plenty of time for me to lose all three categories, so I'm just going to stick with what I got.
38:51
Damian Dunn
Subscribe to Kristen's Twitter channel for more investment picks.
38:55
Peter Dunn
Don't do that. All your TikToks. Oh, yeah. Are you still keeping up that personal finance TikTok channel?
39:00
Kristen Ahlenius
No, because TikTok is going to get banned. What a waste of effort.
39:04
Peter Dunn
Dame, how are you feeling about your 2%?
39:07
Damian Dunn
I might have undershot a little bit, but at least I'll be happy that I was wrong, because it'll be higher than that.
39:15
Peter Dunn
I feel very confident about my pick. And I will also say that none of this is actually surprising to me and half seriousness, as I am primarily an index fund investor. So I feel like I have a better sense of what they do as opposed to individual equities, proving once again how much harder it is to choose a winner versus a basket of winners, and at least that's what I'm going with.
39:40
Damian Dunn
Pete, if you had to take the under or over for the S and P 500, based on your 19, are you going over 19%? Do you think it's going to be a 20 plus percent return year?
39:53
Peter Dunn
Okay, here's what's going to happen. We're in, like, a slight morass right now. I think we're going to find our way out of it in August after the debt ceiling vest, that's going to tank the market, and then it's going to recover strong through the end of the year. I think that's what's going to happen. So the debt ceiling, we're supposed to run money in June, but now projections say it's going to be closer to late July of when that's all going to go down and I think that'll spook the markets. But once it's done, I think we'll be up and rolling. Do not act on that. Anyone?
40:30
Damian Dunn
I still see plenty of news stories saying they anticipate. I think it's 60% of economists expect a very mild recession still yet this year.
40:40
Peter Dunn
Now who's the skeptical economist?
40:42
Damian Dunn
All of us.
40:43
Peter Dunn
All of us.
40:43
Kristen Ahlenius
Oh, my.
40:47
Peter Dunn
All right, so no revisions to the numbers other than I'll revise mine up a little mean. Does this not prove that this is hard to pick individual stocks or is Kristen making it seem like, well, Kristen can do it, anybody can do the what's the take?
41:08
Damian Dunn
Yeah, ideally, I mean, this is almost like a public service spot that we're doing for everybody, right? I mean, we're financial professionals and you and I are showing our either ineptness or luck at picking some of these things off one off selections. And Kristen's just showing that she's a genius on all of these. Don't. I don't know. I think it does highlight how incredibly difficult it is and what day trading really only works when you're in a market that's going one strong direction one way or the other.
41:40
Peter Dunn
Jeremy, from the flight deck notes, do you really I would think that student loan repayments and credit card debt is going to kill the market. I don't know every reasonable point. But here's the other thing. Those credit card repayment, loan repayments would have to start back up. I'm now of the belief, since we're in bad prediction episode of the year, the closer we get back to election season, who's going to restart those? You think the Biden administration is going to restart payments the closer we get to election season now that President Biden has just announced his reelection campaign? No chance. Dame, do you think they're going to restart anytime soon?
42:19
Damian Dunn
Getting extended yet again, right?
42:23
Kristen Ahlenius
Yes, absolutely.
42:29
Peter Dunn
I don't know. I just can't fathom the lack of justification for extending the moratorium on payment. I just can't. Anyway, let's take a break. That's what we got to do. Coming up after the break, the biggest waste of money of the week and the news right here on the Planner show. I'm Pete the planner. I ended somewhat early not knowing how early I should really end. So some board tech is going to be cussing me. It's okay.
42:58
Damian Dunn
You'll never hear it.
42:59
Peter Dunn
That's true. I don't know you. I don't know. I'm sorry. I think I've got a really good BOM this week.
43:08
Kristen Ahlenius
Great.
43:09
Peter Dunn
I was impressed last week. Well, no, you were so good on bomb last week. Kristen and Dame. Like, unbelievable. You guys $20 or something. Let me look.
43:21
Damian Dunn
It wasn't a slot car, was it? Last week?
43:23
Peter Dunn
Yeah, it was that slot car thing. You guys got close at all? Oh, no, it was two weeks ago that you were close. Man, I'm wrong about everything today.
43:36
Damian Dunn
I think I did okay. On the slot car.
43:38
Peter Dunn
You guys did good on the body wash, the BW one body wash. The one that dirt, sweat, and anything else that might find its way onto your skin. Remember that copy? I was like, what?
43:52
Kristen Ahlenius
Yeah.
43:55
Peter Dunn
Okay. All right, this is going to get ugly for you all. This week's biggest waste of money of the week, right here on the Pete the Planner show is the Louis Vuitton by Mark Newsom Cabinet of Curiosities.
44:00
Damian Dunn
Can hardly wait.
44:02
Peter Dunn
In three, two, one. This week's biggest waste of money of the week, right here on the Pizza Planner show is the Louis Vuitton by Mark Newsom Cabinet of Curiosities. Louis Vuitton collaborates with Mark Newsom to transform their signature trunk. Dubbed the Cabinet of Curiosities, the trunk contains its heritage details on the exterior featuring monogram of canvas with gold hardware and leather handles. The Australian designer reimagined the interior with 19 removable leather cubes to display and store books and trinkets. The blocks come in three different sizes and are available in bright yellow, multicolor and the house's signature neutral shade. All right, so, Kristen and Dame, here's the thing here. This is a trunk. The classer is like, steamer trunk for Louis Vuitton. It's a hard sided trunk with a classic LV print. But this one has some leather Ikea looking cubes in the middle of it.
45:12
Peter Dunn
What do you think this cost? Kristen. What do you think? This Louis Vuitton by Mark Newsom cabinet of curiosities costs.
45:21
Kristen Ahlenius
Let's go 4000.
45:26
Peter Dunn
Okay, $4,900. Writing that down.
45:28
Damian Dunn
Okay, Damon, I will go with $50,000.
45:36
Peter Dunn
So one of you guessed 4900 and the other one multiplied by ten and then added something. What if I told you that you were both so wildly wrong that this is why we continue to do this segment? A quarter of a million dollars for a piece of luggage with Amazon quality cubes on the inside for a toy.
46:05
Damian Dunn
Box, essentially, is what you're getting here, isn't that thought? I thought you were just really happy about this because did you say you were packing in cubes now?
46:17
Peter Dunn
I am a cube packer. Now I have switched to cube packing. That's my jam. Dame, what's in the news this week?
46:25
Damian Dunn
Charge more and see what happens. Which is kind of apropos after bomb. That's exactly what many consumer facing corporations including Chipotle and McDonald's did in response to historic inflation. And it's worked out pretty great for them, if we're being honest. Their earnings reports say so. Chipotle increased prices and store traffic also increased, the company said. And PepsiCo products were 16% Pricier last quarter, but it sold only 2% less of them, resulting in a 10.2% sales bump. Consumer giants Kimberly Clark, Nestle and Procter and Gamble raked in more revenue last quarter after they jacked up prices by 10%. Higher sticker prices helped GM add almost $1,800 to its per car profit in North America to grow its revenue. But the good times won't last. After more than a year of getting hammered by inflation, consumers are starting to resist paying farmers market prices at grocery stores.
47:23
Damian Dunn
PepsiCo CFO said customers have already been opting for cheaper products. And the CEO of McDonald's told the Financial Times that customers were starting to push back on the company's beefier price tags. Looking ahead, execs at companies like Coca Cola say it's only a matter of time before they'll have to stop increasing prices or risk losing customers. Chipotle has already made that decision. Revealing it has paused price hikes.
47:48
Peter Dunn
Kristen, when's the last normal meal that you've had that you looked up and you're like, whoa, that was a lot more expensive than I thought it'd be.
47:58
Kristen Ahlenius
Not even a normal meal. I'm a Diet Coke from McDonald's girly. And drinks at McDonald's aren't a dollar anymore.
48:06
Peter Dunn
What are they?
48:06
Kristen Ahlenius
And a dollar 38.
48:09
Peter Dunn
Whoa.
48:10
Damian Dunn
Yes. The large went up from a dollar to a dollar 38.
48:14
Peter Dunn
So I'm going to ask a question that you're going to be uncomfortable to answer. When you go for lunch anywhere lunch, even dinner, how often do you look at the price of an item, especially if it's a common item, like a cheeseburger versus, like, a tuna sandwich? Now, steak, I mean, you're going to look at what a steak costs or look at what seafood costs, but how often you're just getting a sandwich or a salad or something like that. Do you actually look at the price? Kristen do you ever actually look at the numbers?
48:45
Kristen Ahlenius
Pretty much always. Yeah.
48:47
Peter Dunn
Okay, that's fine. Dame.
48:49
Damian Dunn
Yeah, I take a nice little peek around the menu and see where things are at.
48:53
Peter Dunn
Okay. So sometimes I don't. But it's when it's a normal item. Like, I went to a restaurant the other day. I ordered a tuna sandwich on wheat. Tuna on wheat with chips and a coffee. It was $22. What? And I was indianapolis. This was not like, oh, where in the world is Peter? It wasn't that. This was at home. And I was like, wow, how that's shocking.
49:31
Kristen Ahlenius
Damon and I had both had lunch for less than that the other day.
49:35
Peter Dunn
Yeah.
49:36
Damian Dunn
And it was good.
49:39
Peter Dunn
What else is in the news?
49:41
Damian Dunn
I'm going to read a quote to you, and then I'll give you some context behind it. Ideally, there should always be ways to add more friction, a way that when you click to access the account, you have to wait a minute or you have to listen to a song you hate. End quote. That was from a UCLA behavioral economics professor describing how making online accounts less convenient could help people resist the temptation to spend their savings money in. Apple's new savings accounts, for example, can be accessed instantly. Unlike withdrawals from many other online accounts, the tech giant said the account is designed to be as transparent as possible and give ready access to cash is intended to give customers more control over their financial lives. Pete kristen, how do we feel about putting barriers between people and their money?
50:42
Kristen Ahlenius
Kristen I just don't know why a company that wants you to spend money would want to put a barrier between you and needing them more when it comes to your debt.
51:00
Peter Dunn
Yeah, this is a weird one for me. I think he's theorizing with those comments because there's no way you should make it harder for someone to get their money out. Do you remember a few years ago when Betterment froze redemptions? When the market got and I'm a huge fan of Betterment, they froze redemptions. When the market got hairy and they just made the call, they were just like, no, don't care. We're freezing redemptions. And I had, like, a massive problem with that. I wasn't trying to take my money out. I was leaving alone. I don't really care. But I think making it harder for people to get their money is a problem. Now, that being said, I got to be honest, I do like when companies don't allow 401K loans. Like we don't allow 401K loans. I think it's a slightly different situation.
51:45
Damian Dunn
I don't know. I like theory behind it because our team at Your Moneyline has a pretty regular conversation about people who say they put money into a savings account, but they always end up spending it. And there's some issues there that we can help them solve. And I can see where this gentleman is coming from by saying, listen, if we can put a little bit of friction in order to try and break that cycle for someone without the assistance of somebody else or some other entity, maybe that's not a bad thing.
52:23
Peter Dunn
I mean, I'm the one that put that One SEC app on my phone that makes me wait 20 seconds to open social media, but that's not my money. I need my money. I want my money. Whether I'm looking at food pics on Instagram, I want my money.
52:39
Damian Dunn
But we will often list as one of the benefits of an online savings account as the fact that it's out of sight, out of mind, and it's going to take a couple of days to get the money. So there's a little bit of a roadblock. Naturally there.
52:53
Peter Dunn
There is, but that's a roadblock that we've created for ourselves, not that it was installed without our permission. I guess you have to opt in by getting into that account, but if you're on an account, then they add that barrier. I would not be happy.
53:06
Kristen Ahlenius
Okay, I agree with that.
53:09
Peter Dunn
Wow, I got aggressive. Look, Jeremy, on the live stream. I do look at prices on menus, but if I'm like, oh, hey, a buffalo chicken wrap. Oh, a cup of soup. I'm not looking at the price because I'm just like, I'm just going to eat that quick and be done. And it should be like nine dollars to twelve dollars, not $22 for a cup of coffee and tuna. Right?
53:34
Kristen Ahlenius
Kristen that's fair.
53:36
Peter Dunn
Okay, I'm done with all of this. I'm sending you good vibes because good vibes are all that's in the budget. This is Pete, the planner. And this is the Pete the Planner show. You guys, I gotta be honest. I think I was terrible on the radio today. I blew by. I couldn't think what's going on. I stayed up late to watch the draft. It was just a bad show. So all my podcast, what a narcissist. All the podcast listeners and live stream people, my deepest apologies. Money back guarantee today I will refund all of your money.
54:11
Damian Dunn
I don't think you're nearly as bad as you think.
54:14
Peter Dunn
Terrible. I was talking to one of our new coworkers this morning. I was like, oh, a radio show. It's sort of clever. It's a show. That a show. And so she's like, up there listening, and I'm like, on here going, I'm just like, such a failure right now. It's hard. All right, anyway. Okay, anybody have anything else to say? Kristen, you've got your big soiree are you getting dressed? Like, what do you wear when you have people over to eat beef? What do you do?
54:48
Kristen Ahlenius
The less formal the better. Just like leggings and a sweatshirt, I would say.
54:53
Peter Dunn
There's a lot of beef. I was like, Is it like a chaps party? Everyone shows up in chaps.
54:59
Kristen Ahlenius
Yeah. And cowboy hats. Yeah.
55:03
Peter Dunn
Damn. Are you doing anything remotely interesting this weekend? The undertone there was got to track me.
55:14
Damian Dunn
That's about it.
55:15
Peter Dunn
Well, see, Damien and I have very similar weekends. I mean, they're just different sports, right? We enjoy them. We enjoy our family. We enjoy watching things, but they're not that interesting. No, I have a little bit of an interesting morning tomorrow morning, and it's going to allow us to make more predictions. Chris Dame, I'm running a five K tomorrow morning. All right.
55:40
Kristen Ahlenius
Okay.
55:41
Peter Dunn
Running five K tomorrow morning. And my daughter's running it, and Mrs. Planner is running it, but my daughter's running it, so she doesn't have to run it at school because they have to run it at school. And she doesn't want to get sweaty during the day, so she has to beat 38 minutes. And Mrs. Planner said, I will pace you through 38 minutes. And I was like, Well, I'm going too, but I want to beat them. And then on the dinner last night, mrs. Planner is like, I can smoke you anytime I want at this. But what you're going to do is you're going to run alongside of us and the last 100 meters, you're going to sprint like a loser and beat us both, aren't you? And I was like, oh, absolutely. But now I'm like, okay, I'm either going to do that, which I have to, or I'm just going to run it for real.
56:24
Peter Dunn
So if I run it for real, which I think is what I really want to do, let's predict my times.
56:34
Damian Dunn
Are we writing these down too?
56:35
Peter Dunn
No, we can just come with.
56:40
Damian Dunn
I will say 28 30.
56:45
Peter Dunn
Okay.
56:47
Kristen Ahlenius
Was that offensive to you, Pete, or.
56:49
Peter Dunn
Were you like not at all. What do you think?
56:56
Kristen Ahlenius
A ten minute mile puts you at like 31 minutes.
56:58
Peter Dunn
Sure.
56:59
Kristen Ahlenius
Right. So that I think you'll break a ten minute pace.
57:06
Peter Dunn
I think I will be closer to Kristen's prediction. Dame, you are way too kind. I've not run a five k in some time, so we'll see what happens. I think I'll be like 32 minutes.
57:13
Damian Dunn
I just figured you were stubborn enough that you would force yourself to break 30.
57:19
Peter Dunn
I just have to beat my family, that's all. I mean, beat my family. You know what I mean? Yeah.
57:23
Damian Dunn
That's great.
57:25
Peter Dunn
I got to go. This is the worst radio show I've ever done. And that's saying a lot. It sorry I'm going to take this hard. The rest of the day been a long week. All right, everybody stay getting money. Bye.
