Pod Insights Money Guy Show Financial Advisors React to Their FAVORITE Finance Creators About this episode We're back to provide a Financial Advisor's perspective on GOOD advice from the Internet! From Humphrey Yang's revealing that median household income can no longer afford median-priced homes to Andy Hill's journey from negative net worth to $1 million in 10 years, we break down what's working and what framework needs adjusting.
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Transcript 3,438 words · 15 speakers
Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:01 Speaker 00 This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome? That's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required. Compatibility and availability varies 18 plus.
0:26 Speaker 01 This episode is brought to you by Indeed. You're ready to level up your business, but the pressure to find the right person to make that happen is intense. Indeed sponsored jobs can help carry the load. It boosts your job post to help it reach quality talent fast. Cut through the chaos with Indeed sponsored jobs. Get a $75 sponsored job credit at indeed.com/podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring now? Then this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs.
0:55 Brian Preston? Zippity do dah! I hear we got some content creators for work in the financial space that we actually know and love today.
1:03 Speaker 03 Brent, I am so excited to see what some of our friends have to say about personal finance.
1:07 Speaker 04 What home price can you buy with your salary? So if you look at this table, I used a 6% 30-year mortgage rate, and then I calculated the mortgage payment that you could expect, and then I just backed into what your salary should be for different home prices. For example, on a $400,000 home, the monthly mortgage payment is 2631 per month, which means that the suggested salary is $112,750, using the 28% rule of home buying for comfortable affordability. This payment column does include property taxes and insurance monthly, and I also assume that you had a 20% down payment. So I think that this shows that homeownership in America is really tough because the median price of a home in America as of the latest data was $410,000. The median household income is around $84,000 per year, which means that the median household income
1:52 Speaker 04 cannot afford you a median-priced home anymore in America. And in other regions, it's even harder. So in San Francisco, the median-priced home was $1.39 million as of 2026. And just to show you the salary suggestion to buy a high-end home, here's a table for these homes. Now, what you can afford is not the same as what you You can qualify for by the banks and I'm going to make a video on that next. So if you want that video, follow me for more.
2:15 Brian Preston? Wow.
2:15 Speaker 03 I agree with a lot of what he said. We have a slightly like different flavors just to touch. Cause we think when it comes to buying a home, we want you to follow three, five, 25. He said that all of his assumptions assumed a 20% down payment, but this is a first time home. We would argue that you don't have to put down 20%. You can get away with putting down three to 5% on the first home. We want to make sure that you can stay in that home, that you see yourself being there for at least five to seven years. And we want the total housing expense or total house payments not exceed 25% of your gross income. So I think we were really, really close, but just some subtle little nuances there on differences.
2:50 Brian Preston? Oh, come on.
2:50 Speaker 03 He's about to throw me under the bus.
2:51 Brian Preston? We love Humphrey.
2:52 Speaker 03 No, of course I love Humphrey, but we disagree a little.
2:56 Brian Preston? The biggest shock and awe for me though, was San Francisco. Humphrey, let's get you on over here. Move on over to Tennessee. We'll see what we can do with your equity that you probably have in your house. Because goodness gracious, you know, starting out at a million and a half dollars. That's a, that's, that's a steep price tag.
3:14 Speaker 05 There are very substantial consequences to filing a return, receiving a refund that wasn't legitimate. Here's how this usually plays out when a fraudulent return is filed. For example, claiming a refund for tax withholdings that were never actually paid on a W2. The IRS may initially release that refund as a part of normal processing. Then they match it up with their records and demand repayment of the refund plus interest and penalties. Best case scenario, you have a 20% accuracy related penalty. Also possible, you can get a 75% fraud penalty. And in almost every case, the refund is already gone. The scammer has disappeared and the IRS only looks to you for the money.
3:52 Brian Preston? This has gotten to be a new thing, Bo, with identity theft. You just went through this process as a PTIN.
3:57 Speaker 03 Yeah, not a PTIN, but an IP PIN.
4:00 Brian Preston? IP PIN, there you go.
4:01 Speaker 03 Is what you got. And it's, it's a number that you can get that resets every single year. It's with the IRS specifically to you as a taxpayer that before a return can be filed on your behalf. That IP PIN has to be associated with it. So if you're someone who's concerned that your information has been stolen, that fraudulent returns could be filed. On your behalf, you can go out to the IRS website, apply for a pin. It's super, super quick, super, super easy. And it's just another way to keep yourself protected from fraudsters trying to take advantage of it.
4:29 Brian Preston? Yeah, unfortunately, there's way too many of those out there. That's why I don't also sleep on freezing your credit because it's more likely the criminals are trying to use your credit more than you are as a financial mutant.
4:40 Speaker 06 My wife and I went from a negative net worth to over $1 million in 10 years. And smart investing made it happen. During that time, our household income averaged around $180,000 a year. Above average, but far from rich. The real difference was how we used it. First, we paid off our high interest debt before investing. It's hard to grow money at 10% of the market if your credit card is charging at 25%, right? Then we saved and invested a big chunk of our income each month, stayed consistent, and let the market do its thing. That's how we reached coast fire by 40. We didn't try to time the market or chase the next big thing. We kept it simple, low-cost index funds and ETFs instead of chasing single stocks and crypto.
5:22 Speaker 06 And here's the part that really stuck with me after interviewing hundreds of millionaires on my podcast. They all said the same thing. Automate your investments, reinvest your dividends, ignore the noise, and stay the course. Building wealth isn't about getting lucky. It's about creating habits that keep you consistent when things get uncertain.
5:41 Brian Preston? You make the good habits as easy as possible and the bad habits that much harder. Automatic for the people.
5:48 Speaker 03 What I love is that there are even tools out there that you can use to make those easy habits even more simple. It's why we have the Financial Order of Operations so that when you're doing what Andy says, when you're saving some for the future and putting that money to work for you, we actually have a step-by-step process that can walk you through what's the best next use of my next dollar. If you want to get your free copy, go out to moneyguy.com/resources. Check out the Financial Order of Operations.
6:16 Brian Preston? Yours just won't be laminated, won't make those cool sounds.
6:19 Speaker 03 I mean, it can be, you can laminate, they can be laminated.
6:22 Brian Preston? No, only, only teachers have laminated.
6:24 Speaker 03 There's only one.
6:26 Speaker 07 Frugal rule number five. Hey. George. Always be knowing where every dollar's going. I had to defy the laws of grammar to make that rhyme, but it's worth taking the creative license here. This one is all about budgeting and it's a huge part of living that frugal life. By tracking your income and expenses, you'll have a clear understanding of where your money's going and where you can make adjustments. And this way, every single dollar has a job. So nothing gets mindlessly spent on big dumb cups or grande ice sugar free vanilla lattes with an extra shot of espresso and a splash of coconut milk.
6:54 Speaker 03 Is that his coffee order?
6:56 Speaker 07 I'm going to do the frozen pineapple passion fruit lemonade. Surely not.
7:01 Brian Preston? Surely not.
7:03 Speaker 03 I bet that's his coffee.
7:04 Brian Preston? I mean, we probably have people we could find out.
7:06 Speaker 07 And then I will do the cinnamon caramel cream nitro cold brew. And I'll do the grande.
7:11 Brian Preston? Oh yeah, look at that fancy drink.
7:13 Speaker 03 I love what George said, that budgeting is, it's absolutely necessary depending on where you are in your financial journey. What we often see with financial mutants is they start with budgeting. Cause how can you know if your dollars are going where they're supposed to be going? If you have no idea where they're going at all. So setting up a budget, learning how to follow it, learning how to track it is a wonderful skill set to have. But I would argue, once you've got that down, it is possible to graduate away from budgeting.
7:38 Brian Preston? To a cash management plan where you just automatically have the money going into the accounts you want, where you can pay yourself first and then live without regret with the rest of your money. But don't skip out on the budgeting in the beginning. You gotta get that muscle memory going.
7:52 Speaker 00 This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome? That's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration blog, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required. Compatibility and availability varies 18 plus.
8:17 Speaker 01 This episode is brought to you by Indeed. You're ready to level up your business, but the pressure to find the right person to make that happen is intense. Indeed sponsored jobs can help carry the load. It boosts your job post to help it reach quality talent fast. Cut through the chaos with Indeed sponsored jobs. Get a $75 sponsored job credit at indeed.com/podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring now? Then this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs.
8:47 Speaker 08 This is one of the biggest weaknesses of traditional retirement planning advice that we see online, the idea that you pick one number and stick to it forever. So we need to get rid of this idea that we're going to say, hey, I'll take 4% of my portfolio and withdraw that forever. Instead, let's use decision-based rules. This creates a much more resilient plan, and it might sound something like this. If my portfolio is under stress, I temporarily adjust. If markets fall below a defined threshold, we'll call that X, I adjust. If the markets recover, I reset. If my income sources change, my spending adapts.
9:26 Brian Preston? I mean, Erin is spot on. I mean, this is the thing is that I think when you're 20-plus years from retirement, I'm perfectly fine with people using what I call napkin financial planning techniques, which is, you know, you could do a back into what your number is through the 4% withdrawal rule, or multiplying your income by 20, 25%, you know, times your income. But as you start landing the plane, you need to stress test what you've got going on, and you need to make your financial and retirement plan personal to you. And it's hard to do that with these one-off things that are very popular in the whole, you know, financial media content side of things. But that's where our job as financial planners, we navigate a lot of this stuff. So you don't have just one retirement and, you know, wonder
10:09 Brian Preston? what your blind spots are. We actually help people navigate this every day.
10:12 Speaker 03 Yeah, for the hundreds of clients that we've worked with that we've helped get to and through retirement, one of the things I think that's always wild, that a lot of the blogs and articles don't catch, is that most times in retirement and in financial independence, the withdrawal rate is pretty dynamic. Very rarely is it static, 4%, 4%, 4%. There are seasons and times where you might have seven and a half, and then a five and a half, and then a four, and then a three and a half, and then a 12. And that's okay if you stress test the plan to make sure you understand because what you want is you want a financial plan that molds to the life that you want to live, not trying to mold your life to some stringent financial plan that doesn't ultimately match what you want your dollars to do.
10:55 Speaker 09 You should never have to pay any interest on a credit card ever if you do this correctly. Credit cards should be used only. Putting expenses in the cards, getting the rewards, and then paying it off in full by the time it's due. Most people are completely oblivious to what their credit card balance is. They have no idea how much they pay in interest. All they do is they go and make the minimum balance and think they're all hunky dory, where behind the scenes, it's a dumpster fire. And if you do have to pay interest, it should just be for an emergency only, where you need to spend the money, not because you want to go to Coachella and just have a great time.
11:25 Speaker 03 And I would argue that if you have an appropriately funded emergency fund, if you have three to six months of living expenses and readily available cash, you can save yourself from that NCD described where you have to rack up credit card debt, where you have to be charged interest. I love what he said. Credit card use, A-OK. Credit card debt, no way.
11:46 Speaker 10 Five signs you're doing better financially than the average American. Number one, you're paying off credit card debt or you don't have credit card debt at all. The average credit card debt of a US household is $10,815. So if you're actively paying off that high interest debt, then you are killing it. Two, you have a savings goal. Maybe it's for emergencies or for your next car, but only two in five Americans have some kind of savings goal. Number three, you're educating yourself on personal finance, which is probably true since you're watching this video. But 27% of Americans aren't confident about their overall financial knowledge. Four, you're contributing to a retirement account, whether it's a 401K, a Roth IRA, or some other retirement vehicle, you are planning for the future. Fewer than one in five Gen Zers say they've contributed to a retirement account in 2025. Number five, if you lost your income right now, you could still cover three months of your living expenses.
12:32 Speaker 10 This is a clear sign that you're out of the paycheck to paycheck cycle, and if you want to better your financial health, make sure to follow.
12:36 Speaker 03 I love that. What he did is he basically, not in his specific order, but he followed the financial order of operations. He was talking about the things that we talk about. Hey, don't have high interest debt. Hey, make sure you're saving for the future. Make sure you have a fully funded emergency. Fund. I love all those things and he's a neighbor of ours. So I was trying to figure out where in town he was.
12:55 Brian Preston? Well, that's what I found myself trying to figure out where he was in the community. And the other thing was is I'd love to know JC's storyboard as he was trying to figure out which DIY project can I do for this scene here? So I'll do laundry in this scene and then let's, let's pour out some seed oil here. Just so you know. So it was all, it was just funny knowing JC, just knowing how, how probably what went into making that video.
13:19 Speaker 11 Are we in a house though?
13:20 Speaker 12 No, my house is my trailer.
13:22 Speaker 11 Well, I used to live in a.
13:24 Speaker 12 In a trailer?
13:25 Speaker 11 Yeah.
13:25 Speaker 12 Cause that's what I want to do.
13:26 Speaker 11 You want to do that?
13:27 Speaker 12 Yes.
13:28 Speaker 11 Okay. But I know you like rent land and like a timeshare thing. Not just like strictly renting land.
13:33 Speaker 12 I don't think so, but that's because we have differing opinions about trailer life. Once I pay off the loan, I get to camp for free, free.
13:42 Speaker 11 Not free, free. There is utilities. Remember we went over.
13:44 Speaker 12 I don't pay utilities.
13:46 Speaker 11 There's no utilities afterwards at all.
13:48 Speaker 12 No.
13:48 Speaker 11 Free, free. There will not be a cent you owe for it.
13:51 Speaker 12 There are 500 a year.
13:54 Speaker 11 Okay. It's cheap, not free, free.
13:56 Speaker 12 Dirt cheap for rent.
13:58 Speaker 11 Sure. It's certainly not getting in and appreciating NASA. That's for sure. You also got a lot of critters in there.
14:04 Speaker 12 I have three cats.
14:05 Brian Preston? I thought he meant wildlife.
14:06 Speaker 03 I thought he meant wildlife too. I was thinking raccoons.
14:09 Brian Preston? God, they clarified that.
14:10 Speaker 03 I think a lot of times when it comes to retirement planning or planning the next season, the next stage of our life, we oftentimes oversimplify it. Oh, well, if I can just get past this singular hurdle, then everything will be easy. Then I'll have it all figured out. Even people who say, man, I can't wait until I own my house outright. Then no matter what happens, I own my house and nobody can take it from me. Even that's not entirely true because even when you own your house, you gotta pay the property taxes on it. So there are always going to be costs associated with the things that we do. You want to make sure that you account for those costs in your financial plan. I don't have the wrong assumption. You're going to be living for free, free?
14:48 Speaker 12 Free, free.
14:49 Brian Preston? Free, free.
14:49 Speaker 03 Not free, free.
14:50 Speaker 11 When you're not actually living for free.
14:51 Brian Preston? Well, and I think two things I got out of that video is that $500 a year for utilities and property taxes. That is dirt cheap. She was right on that. And then we gotta help Caleb understand that cats, not necessarily critters.
15:05 Brian Preston? When I hear critters, I think of raccoons or squirrels.
15:08 Speaker 03 I was thinking.
15:09 Brian Preston? Or some rodent. I don't think of, you know.
15:11 Speaker 03 But not cats.
15:12 Brian Preston? Yeah.
15:12 Speaker 03 Not cats.
15:13 Brian Preston? Garfield is not in the critter category.
15:16 Speaker 03 These were some, uh, some great friends of ours out there sharing fantastic financial information. I think it's so important. We have to be mindful of the things that we let into our mind when it comes to how we make our financial decisions.
15:29 Brian Preston? Look, we believe there is a better way to do money. If you haven't gone and checked out our free, free stuff, because we are trying to accelerate your path to success, just go to moneyguy.com/resources. We will absolutely load you up with calculators, downloads, all kind of cool stuff. In the meantime, I'm your host, Brian, joined by Mr. Bo, Money Guy Team.
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