00:00
Peter Dunn
It. All right, so this is try number three for those listening on the podcast. We attempted to start the show several times and it did not work. So this time we hope it works. We're hoping listeners pop back in and can hear it. So I'm not actually going to say anything of substance until someone logs back into the show and lets us know that my audio sounds fine. The thing is, it's going to be a very special episode of the show. We have a first time guest co host on the show. All right, so people are starting to trickle into the live stream, and anyone coming into live stream, please tell me can you hear me? Ashley says it sounds great. And that means welcome our special guest of the show. That is none other than Ellie Margulis, one of my coworkers, my colleagues here at Your Moneyline, our expert all things Gen Z.
00:54
Peter Dunn
Ellie, welcome to the show.
00:55
Ellie Margulis
Thanks for having me.
00:57
Peter Dunn
Now, there are some rumors floating around out there that the technical issues we had are related to your generation. But I think it actually might be my boomer status that led to me taking equipment that's worked for me for 15 years and magically having it not work for me. But anyway, all the same, I'm so glad to be here with you.
01:17
Ellie Margulis
I'm glad to be here with you.
01:19
Peter Dunn
Okay, dame and Kristen are off this week, and I was around the office like, hey, they're off. Ellie, you want to be on the show? You're like, yeah, I'll be on the show. So Ellie is now on the show. You're going to learn a little bit about Ellie during the show today. We are going to talk about all things Gen Z. This is when I start to feel like an old man. All things gen. Z. And so, Ellie, here's the segment lineup today we're going to do what are we doing? We discussed this, right? Benefits that Gen Z wants, right?
01:50
Ellie Margulis
Yeah.
01:51
Peter Dunn
Employee benefits that Gen Z are really into. You've recently written an ebook about this, and so you will go and help us understand that then. As a Gen Z active person, you are very into triathlons right now. So we're going to do a little game called ellie, are you sure you know how much this is going to cost you? And then I'm going to have you guess on different things and you tell me what you think things cost in the triathlon. And then finally we're going to do a segment called hey, Old Fella, what do you think about these financial goals and whatnot of the Gen Z people? Is that what that third segment is called?
02:31
Ellie Margulis
I think so.
02:32
Peter Dunn
Okay, this is going to be great. Oh, for those still sticking around, thank you. We had major technical difficulties, but we are back and, yeah, let's get going because ain't nobody got time for that. Thank you, Jim, for having us back. Thank you for your work. We appreciate it. Here we go, ellie, I'm setting my clock here. We're going to start with a Gen Z benefits guide, which is something that you've produced. So this will be good to go in three, two, one. This week on The Pete the Planner Show, we aren't answering your money questions. Typically we do. That's how the show works. You email us, askpete@peterplanner.com that's askpete@peteeplanner.com and I'll answer your questions. But it turns out today it's a very special episode of The Pete the Planner Show. As you may not know, I'm an old man and I'm reminded of that on a daily basis and I have a lot of much younger coworkers and so trying to understand their view on finance and everything else is important to me.
03:35
Peter Dunn
And so today welcome one of my colleagues, Ellie Margulis, to the show, who is going to guest co host with Damon Kristen Out. Ellie, welcome to the program.
03:43
Ellie Margulis
Thank you.
03:44
Peter Dunn
Is this your first time on a radio show?
03:47
Ellie Margulis
It is.
03:48
Peter Dunn
And is it everything you've ever wanted it to be?
03:51
Ellie Margulis
Oh, it's more.
03:52
Peter Dunn
It's great to hear. Now, Ellie, you're on a content team. You recently wrote a guide on benefits in the workplace. What do we call this guide?
04:01
Ellie Margulis
What's the guide called it's the 2023 Gen Z Wellness Report.
04:05
Peter Dunn
The 2023 Gen Z Wellness report. Tell me more. I want to know what were we attempting to gather when we put together this report?
04:16
Ellie Margulis
So I came up with this idea probably a while ago now, but I wanted to survey Gen Z because we are now going into the workforce and we are very different from millennials, boomers, Gen X, everyone before us. And I wanted to see if my opinions matched up with other people in my age group. And I just thought it would be an interesting from a financial perspective to see if we have different concerns than those older than us. And so I surveyed 260 full time gen Z employees.
04:57
Peter Dunn
Okay. So I'm excited to see here's how we're going to do this. You can tell me what the findings are. As an old man, I will say I care about that, too. We're going to find out how different we are. So what were some of the major takeaways of this research?
05:11
Ellie Margulis
Yeah, so I have three major takeaways. Gen Z has high levels of financial stress. They want more financial wellness benefits and financial concerns negatively impact overall wellness for them.
05:25
Peter Dunn
Okay, so those are the three major takeaways.
05:27
Ellie Margulis
I can add one more if you want.
05:29
Peter Dunn
Well, no, I mean, the takeaways are takeaways. We're not going to manufacture takeaways. Okay, so let's start with number one. And let's see. Let's break this down. And what I mean so the first takeaway is what high levels of financial stress turns out. As a nearly 46 year old person, I too have high levels of financial stress. How are the financial stresses of Gen Z different than that of a pudgy, middle aged Midwesterner like me?
05:58
Ellie Margulis
Yeah, I think another finding from the survey was just debt and student loans these days is crazy. Gen Z is I serve at 18 or 22 to 26, but it starts at like 16 to 26, I think, or maybe a little older. So a lot of us are going into the graduating college, having to pay for college. So the debt and student loans is at the top of the list.
06:28
Peter Dunn
Yeah. Here's a question I would have for you, and you may not know the answer of it, but just worth discussing. So let's take someone who graduated anytime after March of 2020. Okay. So take anyone that graduated March after March 20, which, by the way, you're in that category, correct?
06:46
Ellie Margulis
Yeah.
06:46
Peter Dunn
Okay. And then you take the student loan debt, which is undoubtedly stressful. It's like, oh my gosh, I just paid all this for college, I got to pay it back. I'm with you that there's stress, but where I'm confused a little bit is, won't this stress be at an all time high right now because there were actually no payment obligations during that entire time?
07:08
Ellie Margulis
For sure, yeah.
07:10
Peter Dunn
So that's part of the findings of the timing of the survey is to say, yeah, I mean, there's general financial stress that everyone has, but it is going to be massively cranked up for Gen Z right here, right now, as we're now in October of 2023, when student loan payments are here again. Just in your research and even talking more anecdotal discussions, does the idea of student loans starting up for the first time ever, is that part of this?
07:37
Ellie Margulis
Oh, yeah, for sure. I have just in conversations with friends on a daily basis. They have no idea how they're going.
07:45
Peter Dunn
To handle it here's. The other side of this, too, is a lot of the student loan servicers have flipped over during the pandemic to different groups. And it's not like when you graduate in May of 20 or May of 21 or May of 22 because everything was on deferment. It's not like everyone took time to figure out what their payments were supposed to be anyway. You just didn't make a payment. So on top of student loan stress, what other areas of financial stress exist for Gen Z, based on your study?
08:18
Ellie Margulis
So emergency savings was actually the highest cause of stress. My generation tends not to have any sort of emergency fund and just expenses in general, day to day. I think a lot of Gen Z is struggling paycheck to paycheck.
08:36
Peter Dunn
Yeah. So let's dig into that a little bit here. Do you think there are different spending habits of your generation versus my generation that lead to that, or do you think there's another cause for a lack of emergency fund, or do you think it's first year pay. How do you estimate what leads to the stress around no emergency fund?
08:59
Ellie Margulis
I think it's a lack of education.
09:02
Peter Dunn
A lack of financial education.
09:03
Ellie Margulis
Yeah. I had no idea. I'll be honest, I had no idea about emergency funds until a year and four months ago when I joined your moneyline.
09:11
Peter Dunn
Yeah. Well, it's interesting, right? Because when you get out of college, first off, the first thing that all of us think about or exit any level of school is I now have freedom. Which then feels like, okay, well, now I can go spend money on whatever I want to spend money on. But then you realize that with that we're getting into Spider Man territory here. With great freedom comes great responsibilities. And so I think that's where it starts to break down. I would answer sort of this idea with this. Ellie, I'm curious how you think of this. Is this generational or is it age based? And I ask it meaning this I've never been in Gen Z, but I have been 23. Right. And I feel like some of the stresses I experienced when I were 23 are similar to the stresses you talk about from a Gen Z perspective.
10:04
Peter Dunn
The only difference being, I think, is that school costs are so much more expensive. Then how about travel? How does travel come into this?
10:14
Ellie Margulis
I think my generation is traveling way more, not settling down in one place as quickly as older generations. And there's this idea that we should travel while we're young and that money will come back to us. So why not do it now? Not saying that's the correct thinking. You should have.
10:39
Peter Dunn
Yeah, I agree. I do feel like, from at least from my perspective, your generation travels so much more than my generation did when were at the same age group. I always think, though, where does that come from? Does that come from online influence? Where does the desire to travel come from for your generation?
11:01
Ellie Margulis
I think recently it's stemming from the pandemic. I mean, majority of the people I know couldn't go abroad. Their abroad trips got canceled during COVID And so now it's just I mean, you hear it every summer. It's European summer every year now because you can finally go back over there.
11:21
Peter Dunn
Some of this, too, has very little to do with the actual qualities of Gen Z. But it's the circumstantial things happening around Gen z COVID. Like you just mentioned, high cost of college, high cost of housing, including high interest rates, the car supply chain crunch of trying to find transportation. We try to stay away from saying something is the perfect storm because it's just overused. But you have to note from afar, the financial world moving around Gen Z very infrequently moves in its favor. Is that the overall feeling that you've been able to find?
11:58
Ellie Margulis
Yeah, I would agree with that.
12:00
Peter Dunn
All right, so let's do this I don't know how many Gen Z people are saying, know what? I'm going to do an Iron Man triathlon next year, but I know you are, and you actually gave us a date for it. So we're going to do when we come back is we're going to quiz you on do you really know what it costs to do an Iron Man triathlon? It's the special Gen Z episode of the Pete the Planner show. I'm your host, Pete the planner. All right, Ellie, we made it through our very first segment. How are you hanging on so far?
12:29
Ellie Margulis
I'm feeling good.
12:30
Peter Dunn
Feeling good, feeling good. So you've recently got into triathlon. I don't want to ruin this before we get into the radio segment, but you have recently gotten into triathlon.
12:39
Ellie Margulis
Yeah, I dabbled a bit in college.
12:42
Peter Dunn
Okay. All right. We will explore that. We're going to play a little bit of a guessing game, and then we will get in further into the lives of Gen Z. I'll just tell you, I found this from a site where there's a young man on the site. He looks very handsome.
12:57
Ellie Margulis
Can I ask the name of the site?
12:59
Peter Dunn
Why? Because you want to see what this guy looks?
13:01
Ellie Margulis
No.
13:02
Peter Dunn
Well, triathlonbudgeting.com. How's that?
13:05
Ellie Margulis
Okay.
13:06
Peter Dunn
Yeah. All right. Let me pull up my stuff. Here a little quiz. All right, here we go. And we're start the show again because we got to get moving. Three, two, one. Back on the Pete the Planner show. It's a special Gen Z edition of the show, meaning normally I'm an out of touch boomer that can't really relate to the younger generations. And now I'm proving it with my colleague Ellie Margulis, who is on the Your Moneyline team, and she is the special guest co host today. Ellie, hello.
13:37
Ellie Margulis
Hi.
13:37
Peter Dunn
Can you reconfirm you are, in fact, a Gen Z member?
13:42
Ellie Margulis
Yes, I was born in the year 2000.
13:45
Peter Dunn
Oh, my goodness. Okay, so, Ellie, you have made the choice recently. You told everyone that you are doing an Iron Man triathlon.
13:54
Ellie Margulis
Half iron man.
13:55
Peter Dunn
A half iron man triathlon next year. Okay. For those that don't know, can you give the distances here?
14:02
Ellie Margulis
Okay. So it's a 1.2 miles swim, 56 miles bike ride, and then 13.1 mile run.
14:09
Peter Dunn
Okay. And you have run a half marathon before?
14:13
Ellie Margulis
Yes.
14:13
Peter Dunn
Have you run a marathon before?
14:15
Ellie Margulis
No.
14:15
Peter Dunn
You've not run a marathon. And you were a collegiate runner. You ran as an athlete in school. Have you ridden 56 miles on a bike before?
14:25
Ellie Margulis
No.
14:26
Peter Dunn
Okay. Have you swam 1.2 miles before?
14:29
Ellie Margulis
Yes.
14:29
Peter Dunn
Okay, so is the bike going to be the challenge for you?
14:33
Ellie Margulis
Oh, it's going to make or break the whole race.
14:35
Peter Dunn
Okay. But you've done various duathlons.
14:39
Ellie Margulis
I've done sprint triathlons.
14:41
Peter Dunn
Okay.
14:41
Ellie Margulis
Which are a lot shorter.
14:42
Peter Dunn
So to understand the cost associated with this, I need you to take a stand here for a second. How would you consider yourself here? You got four choices a first timer, a beginner, an enthusiast or advanced. Because this is going to determine the cost that you're going to have to guess here today beginner. Okay. So you still consider yourself a beginner about to do your first half. Iron man?
15:07
Ellie Margulis
Yes.
15:07
Peter Dunn
Okay, here we go. This is Ellie guessing how much it costs. Do you feel like you have a.
15:14
Ellie Margulis
Pretty good sense on some things? Okay, it'll depend.
15:19
Peter Dunn
Do you have a bike?
15:20
Ellie Margulis
Yes.
15:21
Peter Dunn
And that bike is going to work for 56 miles.
15:24
Ellie Margulis
If I asked my dad, he would say no.
15:26
Peter Dunn
Okay, but look, your dad probably doesn't want to buy another bike, though.
15:30
Ellie Margulis
That's what I said.
15:32
Peter Dunn
Okay, so let's say you had to get a different bike. What do you think a bike that would be good for a beginner in a triathlon would cost you?
15:42
Ellie Margulis
I don't see it being under $1,000.
15:46
Peter Dunn
All right, well, here's the thing. For a beginner, the bike should be 500, and if you're an enthusiast, it should be closer to 1500. Again, I got to be honest, I think you're somewhere between beginner and enthusiast. Right. If you're going to do a half.
16:02
Ellie Margulis
But it's my first time.
16:03
Peter Dunn
It's true. All right. How about bike fit? Is this something that you've considered, like, having your bike professionally fit to you?
16:12
Ellie Margulis
If you get a bike specialized for triathlon, you have to have it fitted.
16:17
Peter Dunn
Are you going to do that?
16:20
Ellie Margulis
No.
16:21
Peter Dunn
Okay. Do you know how much that costs if you were going to make sure that your bike actually fits you?
16:26
Ellie Margulis
A couple of $100.
16:27
Peter Dunn
That's correct. Okay. Cycling shoes. Are you doing cycling shoes?
16:32
Ellie Margulis
I have them.
16:32
Peter Dunn
You have them already? Okay, that's good. Now it's time to get intense here. You're going to do aero bars, right. Which is where you can lean forward and ride more comfortably in an aerodynamic posture. For the triathlon. Are you doing that?
16:48
Ellie Margulis
It's recommended TBD.
16:50
Peter Dunn
Have you purchased them?
16:51
Ellie Margulis
No.
16:51
Peter Dunn
How much do you think they cost? A couple hundred we're seeing here. Seems like it's going to be like an Amazon aerobar. And then halfway through the race, you're going to need the prime truck to come and deliver a replacement. Right. Okay. You need a bike pump because if you're out on the course do you have a flat kit on your bike?
17:17
Ellie Margulis
I do.
17:18
Peter Dunn
You do? Okay. And do you know how to change a flat tire on your bike?
17:23
Ellie Margulis
Unfortunately, no.
17:25
Peter Dunn
Okay, so this is a problem. We're going to have to slow down here for a second. It's funny the way hobbies work is you're like, oh, I need something to do, but what you're actually doing is you're constantly spending money. That is the nature of a hobby. Ellie as a former road cyclist, as you can tell by my physique, I have changed many flat tires on bikes. That is something that you're probably going to want to do before you head out 56 miles yes. Which race are you doing? Do we know yet?
17:52
Ellie Margulis
Frankfurt, Michigan.
17:54
Peter Dunn
It's lovely. Where is that?
17:56
Ellie Margulis
It's like 45 minutes from Traverse City.
17:58
Peter Dunn
Where's Traverse City?
18:01
Ellie Margulis
Northern Michigan.
18:02
Peter Dunn
All right. I think it's a 45 minutes from Frankfurt. That was the joke set up. All right. Do you have the helmet you're going to go with?
18:08
Ellie Margulis
Yeah.
18:08
Peter Dunn
Okay.
18:09
Ellie Margulis
It's not aerodynamic, so it is just.
18:11
Peter Dunn
A straight up helmet. Okay. Are you going to get a bike computer or a triathlon watch?
18:18
Ellie Margulis
I have a watch.
18:19
Peter Dunn
Okay, so far, you're not spending a lot of money here. So far.
18:26
Ellie Margulis
So far.
18:28
Peter Dunn
You're going to have to get new running shoes, but as a runner, you're constantly getting new running shoes. Because here's the thing, there's 0% chance, whatever shoes you run in next year at this race, you currently do not own those shoes, right. Because you will put so many miles on your shoes.
18:41
Ellie Margulis
Oh, yeah, I'll get new shoes.
18:43
Peter Dunn
All right. What's your shoe brand? Because everyone sticks with their shoe brand.
18:47
Ellie Margulis
So for racing, I wear hoca.
18:49
Peter Dunn
Wow. Okay. I'm Socony guy, and since I don't run that much, they're just simply Socony shoes that I wear around to go pick up, carry out. All right. Are you going to get a bike trainer so you can train indoors on your bike?
19:04
Ellie Margulis
Well, fun fact, our coworker Steven yes. Has told me, which now I'm calling him out, so he has to give it to me, has said that he'll let me borrow his.
19:14
Peter Dunn
Seems like something you would need. How about a wetsuit?
19:17
Ellie Margulis
Oh, these are so expensive.
19:19
Peter Dunn
Do you have one?
19:21
Ellie Margulis
No.
19:21
Peter Dunn
And are you going to have to buy one?
19:23
Ellie Margulis
I shed a tear when I looked at prices the other day. I will need one.
19:26
Peter Dunn
They're required and they're required by the race officials or just to get it done?
19:33
Ellie Margulis
It depends.
19:34
Peter Dunn
How much does a triathlon wetsuit cost?
19:37
Ellie Margulis
The cheapest one I found was 250, but the most expensive was, like, over $1,000.
19:42
Peter Dunn
I don't think you need $1,000 wetsuit.
19:44
Ellie Margulis
No.
19:44
Peter Dunn
Right. And what's a triathlon suit versus a wetsuit?
19:49
Ellie Margulis
So the wetsuit goes over your whole body.
19:52
Peter Dunn
Okay.
19:52
Ellie Margulis
The triathlon suit is like, what I wear for just the sprint distance.
19:57
Peter Dunn
And you have that. Okay, goggles have them. Okay. And then what else do you need?
20:09
Ellie Margulis
Registration fee for the race itself. Are we not getting there yet? What is it, like $500.
20:16
Peter Dunn
Okay. And then there's travel. Travel, hotel. So we're talking about here again, I'm no financial expert. We're talking my math is working. We're approaching three grand. Right. So this is like you could have either gone to some trip overseas, or you could have gone and burned 8000 calories on a Saturday for $3,000. And that's what you chose.
20:41
Ellie Margulis
Yes.
20:42
Peter Dunn
This is great. I love this. People like to think, like, running and cardiovascular activities and hobbies aren't expensive, but as we're seeing here, it's wildly expensive.
20:54
Ellie Margulis
I think that's the myth of running and triathlon. At first, you just need a pair of shoes. But once you start racing.
21:04
Peter Dunn
I want to know, do you know what the number one sport in the world is in terms of the average amount spent on it by amateurs? Okay, so let me ask the question better, because it was confusing. What sport do amateur enthusiasts of that sport spend the most money on in the world? Do you understand the question I keep asking? It in a very far away. Do you know what the answer is?
21:31
Ellie Margulis
I think I can confidently say it's not triathlon.
21:36
Peter Dunn
It is not triathlon. So you have eliminated one of hundreds of sports.
21:40
Ellie Margulis
Feel like equestrian? I don't know.
21:42
Peter Dunn
You know what? That's an amazing guess. Equestrian is an amazing guess because of the horses involved.
21:48
Ellie Margulis
Golf isn't a bad answer. I saw that in the Chat.
21:50
Peter Dunn
Yeah, it's a surprising one. The answer is fishing. Fishing is the number one interest sport in the world in terms of what the average fisherman spends on fishing. Now, this is true both because they buy fishing boats and without buying fishing boats, because of all the gear it needs for the average person to fish. And so, fortunately for you, triathlon does not reach that. Okay, here's what we're doing again. It's an old Gen Z episode of the show, which means my jokes are especially not funny. This week, Ellie, we're going to come back. We're going to go through some of the financial realities of Gen Z. We talked about them from a benefits perspective. We're going to dig a little deeper. All of that is next right here on the Pete the Planner show. I'm not in Gen Z and I'm Pete the planner. All right, two segments down.
22:43
Peter Dunn
Just like that. La. See, it's going. It's going after those technical difficulties. All right, how can we make the third segment different from the first segment as it relates to the challenges behind.
22:58
Ellie Margulis
A person's financial life different than the first segment? We can talk about what I see people my age going through on a daily basis.
23:09
Peter Dunn
Okay. And that will feel just checking, the double checking. That will feel markedly different from the first segment, where it's student loans and housing and transportation.
23:21
Ellie Margulis
Maybe not, but all right. I don't know. I have thoughts.
23:26
Peter Dunn
Okay, well, I'll take your thoughts. All right.
23:29
Ellie Margulis
Fishing is a sport.
23:30
Peter Dunn
Yeah, fishing is absolutely a sport, Ben, as witnessed by all the photos I have of me in the Er getting a fish hook removed from my hand, which was $1,700.
23:40
Ellie Margulis
We could talk about Taylor Swift.
23:46
Peter Dunn
We're not doing Taylor Swift, but you want to talk about Taylor Swift. There's a Taylor Swift moratorium on the show. She's currently ruining pro football. I don't want to do it.
23:55
Ellie Margulis
I'm sorry.
23:55
Peter Dunn
Bothers me very much, and I'm not a hater. Okay, now we're talking about it. Ellie, here's the thing. Can I both really appreciate what she has accomplished and done and created this micro economy and then also not want her in my microeconomy. Is that fair?
24:13
Ellie Margulis
That's fair. I respect it.
24:17
Peter Dunn
I don't know. I'm just like I just want to watch football. That's all I want to do. I don't want cutaways to the suites, just watch football. NFL's like had to quasi apologize for. I have seen that going too far.
24:32
Ellie Margulis
Travis Kelsey complained about know I mean.
24:37
Peter Dunn
Look, I know very little about young dating these days, but imagine you're dating someone and it's talked about at your job on that level on a national basis, that just seems like, come on, can I just play some football? Is this going to be a problem for you, Ellie?
25:01
Ellie Margulis
It depends.
25:02
Peter Dunn
Yeah. Okay, let's do this. Your financial thoughts of the realities of Gen Z. And again, I do think it's an interesting point of distinction. When I was 23, I had some financial challenges that are in line with what you're talking about, but I think the economy around me was very different. I still had to buy groceries for the first time and buy my first house or apartment or know. Okay, let's do this. In three, two, one. Back on the Pete the Planner show. The special Gen Z episode of The Planner Show. Ellie. Oh. Ellie Margulis is a guest co host of the show official Gen Z member.
25:48
Ellie Margulis
Yeah.
25:49
Peter Dunn
Okay, now, just to confirm your Gen Z, you either have or are going to go to a Taylor Swift show.
25:58
Ellie Margulis
I am going.
25:59
Peter Dunn
How many shows?
26:00
Ellie Margulis
I'm only going to one.
26:02
Peter Dunn
Okay. And is it in the United States that you're going to a show? Are you traveling internationally to go see Taylor Swift?
26:11
Ellie Margulis
I'm going internationally.
26:12
Peter Dunn
Okay. Going it seems like a good thing to do. Now, help me understand this. Are you a concert person?
26:19
Ellie Margulis
Yeah, sometimes it depends on it's.
26:24
Peter Dunn
How do you feel about Olivia Rodrigo? I know in many senses she has just put out a new album. She's of the Gen Z variety, and some call this album a generational banger. And I want to know if you two feel the same way.
26:40
Ellie Margulis
One would say that.
26:41
Peter Dunn
Okay.
26:43
Ellie Margulis
Well, if I say I disagree now, I think people will come at me.
26:47
Peter Dunn
All right. Help me understand the financial realities of Gen Z a little bit more as it relates to just everyday life. What do I not understand or what can maybe I lend a helpful brain to?
27:00
Ellie Margulis
Let me think. I don't know, just in conversations. I have a friend. I have friends who yes, since I've started here, I just have told them some of the things that I've learned. And because everyone in my friend group is at different points in their life, I have friends who are back in school. I have friends who do have full time jobs, and I have friends who still live at home.
27:31
Peter Dunn
Okay, so let's go there. Let's start with your friends that live at home. There's a cross section, I assume. Full time, working full time, yeah. Okay. Are they saving money?
27:43
Ellie Margulis
Yes.
27:44
Peter Dunn
Like, aggressively?
27:46
Ellie Margulis
Yes.
27:48
Peter Dunn
At least $1,000 a month.
27:50
Ellie Margulis
They're saving money to the point they would choose to live at home longer.
27:57
Peter Dunn
Because of how much money they're saving.
27:59
Ellie Margulis
Yeah.
27:59
Peter Dunn
Okay. So here's the distinctive point that I want some clarity on. Are they spending money on discretionary items, yet it feels like they're saving money on rent, or are they physically putting money away and accumulating money.
28:18
Ellie Margulis
For one of my friends? I think they're putting away the money.
28:24
Peter Dunn
Is it in the hopes to eventually launch out?
28:27
Ellie Margulis
Yeah, but I think it's also just and I may be wrong when I say this, but I think there's also a fear that things are only going to get more expensive. So it's almost out of fear.
28:38
Peter Dunn
I think it's pretty confirmed that things are only going to get more expensive just by the nature of things. I will say, from a generational difference standpoint, it's about a sentiment to some degree. Like when I was 23, I feel like there was a little bit of shame is a little strong here, Ellie, but there's a little bit of shame of moving back home after school that people would just go and be out on their own and try tough it through. I do feel like culturally, we've gotten to a point where it is more acceptable to have multi generational living. From your perspective, do you view it that?
29:16
Ellie Margulis
I mean, I have a friend whose family isn't from the US. And multi generational living is the norm?
29:23
Peter Dunn
Absolutely. Yeah. I think that's an element. What are other elements that you're seeing? I also note that people are getting married later. In fact, if Gen Z is, what, 16 to 26 years old? Is that what Gen z is?
29:37
Ellie Margulis
It's something like that.
29:38
Peter Dunn
So no one's getting married?
29:40
Ellie Margulis
Well, I know some I was just at a wedding two weeks ago.
29:44
Peter Dunn
Okay.
29:44
Ellie Margulis
People are getting married.
29:45
Peter Dunn
Okay. Yeah. Again, when I was 23. This is 22 years ago. A lot of people are getting married under the age of 26, so that is different because then that changes your financial life.
29:58
Ellie Margulis
I think the marriage thing is more I mean, we're indiana.
30:02
Peter Dunn
Sure.
30:03
Ellie Margulis
If you're going New York, it's normal not to get married until 35, 36.
30:09
Peter Dunn
Fair. What other elements do you think are unique to Gen Z that are sort of, again, maybe even culturally different?
30:18
Ellie Margulis
My gosh. I'm just thinking about and I don't think this is significant to just Gen Z. But in conversations with friends, I have friends that don't know what a 401K is. I have friends that don't have the money to pay an $800 car fix.
30:40
Peter Dunn
Yeah, that's pretty standard. Here's what I don't understand. I feel like in the last 20 years at least, there's been a lot of chirping about how much better we need. To be with financial literacy at schools yet from what I'm hearing from you, it doesn't feel like it's gotten any better. Did you have a high school? So you were in high school in, like, the, what, 20, 15, 16 somewhere in there?
31:02
Ellie Margulis
Yeah, I graduated high school in 2018.
31:04
Peter Dunn
2018, okay. You're from St. Louis area, right?
31:08
Ellie Margulis
Yeah.
31:08
Peter Dunn
Okay, so was there a personal finance class or was it part of an econ unit or math unit at all? No, nothing.
31:17
Ellie Margulis
Nothing.
31:19
Peter Dunn
And you went to a good like, your high school had an accreditation of some sort? Like your degree is worth something?
31:24
Ellie Margulis
Yes.
31:24
Peter Dunn
Correct. Okay. And you went to a prestigious liberal arts school.
31:28
Ellie Margulis
Yeah.
31:28
Peter Dunn
But I do feel like you guys had a subscription to a particular financial wellness platform at your school. Do you remember this?
31:38
Ellie Margulis
I do not.
31:40
Peter Dunn
Okay. So you don't feel like there was any personal finance education at this prestigious liberal arts school?
31:46
Ellie Margulis
Not with the struggles that I think people struggle with daily.
31:52
Peter Dunn
Okay.
31:52
Ellie Margulis
I think you could learn about big picture stuff, and long term, I think that was talked about. But just learning how to manage day to day finances was not a thing.
32:06
Peter Dunn
Help me out here. I know, especially for millennials, there was this idea of the fire movement, financial independence, retire early, and what you would do kind of like your friend who's living at home, is you would aggressively save and save and save. And so by the time you're in your mid to late 30s, maybe even 40, you retire because you've saved so much money and then go do something else. I don't even know what that even next element looks like. Do you feel like that's an appealing idea of that you disconnect yourself from work by going so hard to save money? Now, is that a realistic expectation or thought? I know I'm asking you to represent all, everyone within Gen Z, which is wildly unfair. Does that resonate in any degree?
32:56
Ellie Margulis
I think so. And I don't know how to phrase this, but Gen Z is coming in to the workplace, and I think millennials are somewhat aligned with this, but we want more work life balance where we prefer flexibility. We don't want to work to death our whole life. We want to travel.
33:26
Peter Dunn
Can I ask a question as it relates to work life violence? Because I love that topic, exploring all angles of it. Does that mean that there's this idea, at least acceptance, that if you're not going to work as many hours that you're able to put your own personal life, give more attention to that? Is there an expectation that impacts the amount of income a person can earn, or is that not part of the expectation?
33:56
Ellie Margulis
Can you rephrase?
33:58
Peter Dunn
Yeah. So if I hear work life balance, I hear the idea of I want to have more life and a little less work. So far, tracking yes. So with the little less work, is there an expectation, an understanding and acceptance that the little less work could theoretically lead to less income if you're working less? And if that is the case, if that's acceptance, is it acceptable? Is that an idea?
34:26
Ellie Margulis
I think that my generation, from my perspective, is we still expect a decent pay with inflation. Companies still have to pay. You still have to be able to live, be able to pay rent, pay a mortgage.
34:53
Peter Dunn
Yeah, absolutely. So, no, I think it's interesting because I do feel like, to your point of, like, I think about even my dad's generation and my grandpa's generation, how that work life balance has sort of flown down. I mean, it was work. Work life balance wasn't even a thing. And I think as it filters through the generations now to yours, there's a difference. Let's do this. Let's take a break. Come back with BOM in current events. I'm Pete the planner. All right, now guess what, Ellie? It is time for the fun segment, which is the biggest waste of money of the week in the news. That's what the kids love. How you hanging in there?
35:32
Ellie Margulis
I'm doing well.
35:33
Peter Dunn
I agree.
35:34
Ellie Margulis
I still have something to show the audience.
35:36
Peter Dunn
Oh, yeah, go ahead now. Hold on behind you.
35:38
Ellie Margulis
Yeah.
35:38
Peter Dunn
All right, let's do this. This is when I was young. Hold on. Here we go. There's an image of me. It was a promotional shot of me wearing a Pug T shirt, a blazer, and my arms outstretched.
35:54
Ellie Margulis
Isn't it your dog on the T shirt?
35:56
Peter Dunn
I had a dog that looked like that, but it wasn't my exact dog. It was just yeah, that's your background imagery and just noted that we're at our offices, not at, like, your home. You don't have a picture of me on your wall? No, at home. I just wanted to point that out for all that might be confused there. All right, let's do this. We got to get to the last segment, and then we're done. Even with the technical difficulties, we're flying through the show. This is a good thing. This is a good thing. All right, so let me get ready to share this. And here we go. Ready to get started in three, two, one. This week's biggest waste of money of the week, right here on the Pizza Planner show is the T Ten Bespoke Car Nissur Service. Auto enthusiasts are known for matching other items to their favorite ride.
36:48
Peter Dunn
T ten bespoke's car Nassau service. You get it, Ellie? Car Nassau.
36:55
Ellie Margulis
Yes.
36:56
Peter Dunn
Okay. Incorporates elements from your vehicle to create a complimentary pair of in ear computers. Can I get a timeout here, Ellie?
37:05
Ellie Margulis
Sure.
37:05
Peter Dunn
Okay. By complimentary, they mean that accompanies it not free.
37:11
Ellie Margulis
Okay.
37:11
Peter Dunn
Because that's the whole point. Since it's the biggest waste of money is going to be exchanged hands. So don't get distracted by complimentary, because when I read the copy, the first time, I was like, okay, wait, it's free. It is not. Each set is made to order using Ytpz ceramic Zirconium precious metals. I assume that you're familiar with those.
37:30
Ellie Margulis
Sure.
37:30
Peter Dunn
Composites and fine leathers at the company's Attier And Labs In, where, you know, lenexa, Kansas, is of course, known for fine leathers and is customized from your exacting specifications. On the tech side of things, the tiny buds offer active noise cancellation. Klipsch tuned Sonyan transducers for detailed sound selectable class D and class AB amps. Dual cadence ten silica hi Fi DSPs, an Arm four processor and support for 96 khz, 24 bit high res audio. Wow. Okay, Ellie, so what they do is you find out what kind of car you have, and then they produce these custom headphones, these earbuds, as the kids call them, and then they match the styling to your car. Do you understand?
38:26
Ellie Margulis
I do.
38:27
Peter Dunn
Okay. What do you think it costs for these bespoke carna sewer services? My gosh, like 30,000, $30,000 is your guess. The answer is still a ridiculous $3,500. Now, here's the way off. Yeah, it's all right. It's hard to embarrassing. No, it's not nearly as embarrassing as some of Kristen's guesses. I will tell you this, Ellie. I have a Kia Sportage. So if I got a custom set of headphones for my Kia Sportage, that would seem like a really dumb thing to do, would it not?
39:10
Ellie Margulis
Yeah, I would judge you.
39:13
Peter Dunn
Yeah. So we don't have to disclose what sort of vehicle you drive or any of those sorts of things. But just imagine specific earbuds for your car and how ridiculous that might seem.
39:23
Ellie Margulis
I mean, the thought would never cross my mind.
39:26
Peter Dunn
Yeah, it doesn't seem like that. All right, so let's do this. Let's go to the news. This week, Ellie Walmart is studying changes in sales patterns by looking at anonymized shopper data and comparing that of people who take a weight loss drug like Ozempic to people who don't. The company is seeing a slight pullback in overall basket, as they call it, when looking at the consumer data, though, for people who take Ozempic, we'll go over your other popular weight loss drugs. So, Ellie, if you're following what I'm saying is, since there's a pharmacy at Walmart is noticing for those people who are prescribed those major weight loss drugs like Ozempic, those same consumers are spending significantly less on food. And now there are fears throughout the economy that if everyone goes on Ozempic, then major food brands are going to suffer for it. Did you even consider this when you started to think about the prevalence of weight loss drugs?
40:41
Ellie Margulis
No.
40:42
Peter Dunn
Yeah, I didn't either. I know the economy will theoretically be affected by these types of drugs, and again, they primarily I'm not a physician or a pharmacist for that matter, but they're primarily meant to serve diabetics. And then we found out that they could lose some weight. So people started taking them for that. But I guess the other point there is at some point in time, people are going to buy less. And again, talking about this makes it feel like I'm not being judgmental, but could you see stock in, like, McDonald's or Chipotle or anything like that fall because people are eating less? Amir, consider that.
41:23
Ellie Margulis
I did not consider that.
41:26
Peter Dunn
Well, I'm glad you have now. Ellie mid air mayhem as wild animals terrorize passengers and a crew on a flight. A plane from Bangkok to Taiwan took a wild turn when a rat and an otter smuggled aboard by a passenger got loose in the main cabin mid flight. I was confused, so he said again, pet rat. Pet rat. It has a white body and it's not small, one passenger told Viral press. The Wednesday flight aboard a low cost Viet jet air flight erupted in panic as the air hostesses freaked out upon noticing what passengers described as an albino rat and a nearly 1ft long otter scurrying around on the floor. Which begs the question, Eleanor, what pocket sized animal would be the worst animal to have get loose on an international flight?
42:27
Ellie Margulis
Could a snake fit in your pocket? Like a poisonous snake animal that could hurt you?
42:33
Peter Dunn
You're suggesting snakes on a plane? Snakes on a plane. Have you seen the movie Snakes on a Plane?
42:38
Ellie Margulis
No.
42:39
Peter Dunn
Did you know it existed? You did not? Samuel l. Jackson Snakes On A Plane I'm sorry. It's all right. It is the Gen Z episode of the show this week, so it is only appropriate that you do not understand any of my movie references.
42:54
Ellie Margulis
It's okay.
42:55
Peter Dunn
That is appropriate. What other I'm trying to think. A skunk's got to be at the top of the list here.
43:00
Ellie Margulis
That's not a pocket sized animal.
43:01
Peter Dunn
Well, no, it has to fit under a seat in, like, a small cage. I don't think the guy walked in with a rat in his pocket. Right? Yeah, skunk's got to be bad. Anything that's just, like, aggressive, like a badger.
43:15
Ellie Margulis
Oh, I don't know.
43:18
Peter Dunn
All right, so a beer drinker. Ellie, you like the beer?
43:23
Ellie Margulis
I do.
43:24
Peter Dunn
You know, Constellation Brands, which owns a tremendous number of alcohol companies, is being led by now the most popular beer on Earth. Do you know what that beer is? The most purchased beer on Earth. Ellie oh, gosh. Modelo Especial.
43:47
Ellie Margulis
I would not have guessed that.
43:49
Peter Dunn
Modelo Especial. Corona Extra being another brand that Constellation Brands owns. So, interesting thing happened during the Pandemic, and again, I'm not drawing any conclusions here, but Corona went from being the number one beer in the world to Modelo Especial. And what's really weird is we had a little fiesta here at the office last week, right? Guess what primary beer we had here? Modelo Especial. Who knew that was the number one beer brand in the entire world? It's interesting because everyone loves Mexican food. Am I right? And then you think, well, Mexican beer, you got to have it when you have Mexican food. You just wouldn't think that. Of all the amazing breweries and brewery beer cultures around the world, that modelo Especiale is the number one beer in the world. My mind keeps going back to what are the worst two small animals to be let loose on a flight?
44:53
Peter Dunn
I mean, I would never have guessed rat and otter.
45:00
Ellie Margulis
I don't think they're harmful. Is an otter aggressive?
45:05
Peter Dunn
I think otters are incredibly cute. Like, on a scale of one to ten, probably a nine, but I think they're deadly. I think they're cute but deadly. I also got to think a rabid. Raccoon. It would be a bad thing to have on a flight. Have you ever been on a flight with any other support animal other than a dog in which you've seen on a flight?
45:29
Ellie Margulis
No, I don't think I've ever even seen a cat on a flight.
45:32
Peter Dunn
Oh, I've seen a cat on a.
45:34
Ellie Margulis
Like, they'd be annoying.
45:35
Peter Dunn
I am allergic to cats. A woman on the way from Indy to Kansas City once was stroking a cat next to me, and I was sneezing the entire time.
45:44
Ellie Margulis
Does not sound fun.
45:46
Peter Dunn
No. At least it wasn't an otter and a rat. Ellie, the gen Z episode of the Pete the planner radio show is now complete. Thank you for your service, and thank you for being on the show with me today.
45:57
Ellie Margulis
Thank you for having me.
45:58
Peter Dunn
It's my pleasure. All right, everyone else, I'm sending you good vibes because good vibes are all that's in the budget. I'm Pete the planner, and this is the show. You know, with all the technical difficulties, we really only lost a few minutes of the show there. Not bad, right?
46:15
Ellie Margulis
We did well.
46:16
Peter Dunn
We did it. All right, major takeaways for you, ellie, what do you think? What's the major takeaways for the show for you today? What did you learn?
46:24
Ellie Margulis
Got to learn something, then otter is.
46:27
Peter Dunn
I mean, if you got an albino rat in front of you're an otter, you're going to go for it.
46:32
Ellie Margulis
I think that another thing I learned just from your perspective as older than me. Yes, we do have between my generation and older generations, there are a lot of overlaps in financial problems and stressors, but it's more so about the environment that Gen Z has grown up in compared to other generations.
47:02
Peter Dunn
Yeah, I agree with yeah. This is not as much a judgment about parenting, but parenting has a lot to do with it, too. Because the greatest generation tried to make things a little bit easier for Boomers. Then the Boomers tried to make it easier than that for X and Y, and then Y's tried to make it much easier for millennials and Gen Z. And so, again, that's not judgment as to what's good or bad, but if parents are dealing with more financial challenges, deeper into a person's young adulthood that I think some of the things we talked about are certainly pertinent. I mean, even look how it's set up. When I was a kid, 1819 becoming an adult, my parents, I was not on their health insurance until I was 26. I had to figure out my health insurance right away. So that has become a thing.
47:56
Peter Dunn
A lot of people are on their parents health insurance for 26, so the government actually supports the idea of sharing finances. So, Allie, thanks for doing this. Do you have a big day lined up?
48:08
Ellie Margulis
Just the normal office stuff.
48:12
Peter Dunn
Good to go. Seek the praise and receive the praise of all your coworkers who are probably right outside the studio excited.
48:18
Ellie Margulis
I am scared to open the door.
48:19
Peter Dunn
Big you. So much for sticking through the technical difficulties that happen sometimes. Next week. No show. No show. I'm taking some time off. I need to breathe. So good luck with your life until now. And then, everyone else, thanks for listening and stay getting money. Bye.
