11/7/25 Atlas Financials' Pop-Up & The Power Hub Spotlight

The Moneywise Radio Show and Podcast Friday, November 7th BE MONEYWISE. Moneywise Wealth Management I "The Moneywise Guys" podcast call: 661-847-1000 text in anytime: 661-396-1000 website: www. MoneywiseGuys.com facebook: Moneywise_Wealth_Management LinkedIn: Moneywise_Wealth_Management Guest: Amanda DiGiacomo, Atlas Financial Solutions & Power Hub Bakersfield website: https://atlasfinancialsolutions.net/ office: 661-241-3719 Power_Hub_Bakersfield

• 0:00Speaker 00

  From the second floor of the historic Woolworths Building in downtown Bakersfield, here is Money Wise. Call or text into the show 661-396-1000.

• 0:10Speaker 01

  I need a dollar, dollar, dollar, that's what I need. Hey, hey. Well, I need a dollar, dollar, dollar, that's what I need. Hey, hey. Said I need a dollar, dollar, dollar, that's what I need. And if I share with you my story, would you share your dollar with me?

• 0:30Speaker 02

  Securities offered through LPL Financial, member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through LPL Financial. LPL Financial and Money Wise Wealth Management are independently owned and operated.

• 0:39Speaker 00

  Here is Money Wise.

• 0:42Speaker 03

  Happy Friday, folks. Welcome to the Money Wise Show, live from the second floor of the historic Woolworths Building in downtown Bakersfield. Come down, get yourself a Reuben, maybe some chili cheese fries. Yes. Make sure you leave with that lemon cheesecake.

• 1:00Speaker 00

  Peanut butter, peanut butter shake.

• 1:04Speaker 04

  And Guinness, if anybody out there is a Guinness fan.

• 1:08Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:09Speaker 04

  Pretty decent pours.

• 1:10Speaker 03

  That's a pretty decent pour for the Guinness.

• 1:12Speaker 00

  Some Dionysus beer for my buddy Kyle over there, too.

• 1:15Speaker 04

  And KRBC.

• 1:18Speaker 00

  We could do this all day.

• 1:20Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:21Speaker 00

  Pineapple milkshakes, peanut butter milkshakes.

• 1:23Speaker 03

  There you go. There you go. Hey, we're live on ESPN Bakersfield, 1230 AM, 101.1 FM, always streaming on the old interwebs at MoneyWiseGuys.com. You can call or text into the show 24 hours a day, 661-396-1000. That's 661-396-1000. We already have a couple of questions that popped in over the last 23 hours, 22 hours since we were on the show last.

• 1:53Speaker 03

  But we'll be getting to that in just a moment today. We're your host. I'm Justin Leland.

• 1:57Speaker 04

  I'm Debbie Lewis.

• 1:58Speaker 03

  With Miss Debbie Lewis. It's been forever since I've been on the show with you.

• 2:01Speaker 04

  I, it has been a very long time.

• 2:04Speaker 03

  Since the old building.

• 2:06Speaker 04

  Yeah, which feels like a decade ago at this point.

• 2:12Speaker 04

  No, it's nice to mix it up. I haven't done a Friday show. I haven't done it with you in a while.

• 2:17Speaker 03

  Right.

• 2:17Speaker 04

  I'm like glued to Sammy these days when I'm on the show. I get the Sammy show.

• 2:22Speaker 03

  You get the Sammy show.

• 2:24Speaker 04

  Yeah, but I miss you, Justin.

• 2:25Speaker 03

  I miss you too. It's gonna be a great show. We have Amanda De Giacomo joining us in the second half of the show, chatting us up with a little bit of some holiday cheer. We are getting into the holiday season, so stay tuned for that.

• 2:39Speaker 04

  One of, one of my neighbors already put up their Christmas lights the day after Halloween.

• 2:44Speaker 03

  I've seen that in my neighborhood as well, and I still have my scarecrow out. So there's that. I gotta be the contrarian. So if you'd like to listen to our show or any of our past programs, please subscribe to the Money Wise Podcast, commercial free, because you know, nobody likes commercials. So go ahead and subscribe to any of the major podcast platforms, iTunes, Apple Podcasts, any of the places where you get your podcasts from. Go ahead and subscribe there. It's the Money Wise Guys Show. We had a couple of questions that popped in. We'll get to those in just a moment, but I gotta ask you, Stephen, fill me in. You're, you're the sports guy.

• 3:26Speaker 03

  When we actually get a, I'm gonna, I'm gonna have to say this very carefully.

• 3:34Speaker 00

  You're making me nervous.

• 3:35Speaker 04

  Yeah, his eyes are getting big.

• 3:37Speaker 03

  Right. When, so when we're able to actually do a scan on Antonio Brown's brain.

• 3:48Speaker 03

  How much CTE do you think there is going to be?

• 3:51Speaker 00

  It's all CTE with that guy.

• 3:53Speaker 03

  I would bet my year's salary that that guy is wall to wall CTE.

• 4:00Speaker 00

  Yeah, there, there's something definitely wrong and I, I'm. We talked about it this morning. I'm not sure if it, it's CTE. I know there was a, a big famous hit from, uh, Mr. Burfect from the Bengals, the old linebacker that cleaned his clock a couple of years before he left Pittsburgh and then he really.

• 4:17Speaker 03

  Well, he was out cold for like a minute and a half.

• 4:20Speaker 00

  And he really hasn't been the same ever since, but I mean, that, that guy's stories are getting deeper and deeper. And I just hope, you know, we've talked about mental hell. Mental health and I, I just think maybe he needs some, uh, some doctor help and get some CT scans and get everything settled.

• 4:37Speaker 03

  He needs a lot more than that. I mean, he's, he's going off the deep end and he's been going off the deep end for a long time. And it just seems to be getting worse and worse and worse. And he's a danger not only to himself, but to now other people as well, right?

• 4:50Speaker 00

  Yeah, I mean, he, he had a warrant out for, you know, he had taken a, a security guard saying somebody had's. Was trying to jump him at a boxing event and still his, um, chains.

• 5:02Speaker 03

  His chain, yeah.

• 5:03Speaker 00

  So he, uh, he took a gun from a security guard and shot at the guys. Luckily, nobody was injured. Uh, but then once the warrants went out, he took off to Dubai and he's been there for a few months and they finally extradited him and. He's back in the States serving some time. He's looking at almost 15 years in prison.

• 5:22Speaker 03

  And that probably would do him good.

• 5:24Speaker 00

  Yes. Yes, I agree.

• 5:26Speaker 04

  Sounds like he has some severe brain damage.

• 5:29Speaker 03

  Some severe CTE brain.

• 5:32Speaker 04

  Is this a Miami Dolphin?

• 5:34Speaker 00

  No, no.

• 5:35Speaker 03

  No, he played for Pittsburgh. He played for.

• 5:38Speaker 00

  Tampa.

• 5:39Speaker 03

  Tampa, yeah. Uh, couple of teams. But I mean, a great ball player when he was on, but then he took a, he took a couple of shots to the melon. And he's been not the same ever since. And I, I worry about the guy.

• 5:55Speaker 00

  I do too. It is a very sad story.

• 5:58Speaker 03

  Yeah, it's really bad. Um, but changing gears here, uh, Debbie, you and I, we're, we're kind of foodies. We like to go out and check out the, uh, you know, the, the food in the area and the neighborhood.

• 6:11Speaker 04

  I like to eat. Yes.

• 6:13Speaker 03

  We like to eat. Would you ever spend a thousand dollars on a, on a, a tomahawk steak?

• 6:19Speaker 04

  If it included an airline ticket overseas. Yeah.

• 6:25Speaker 03

  Uh, this, I don't know.

• 6:28Speaker 00

  What if, what if it came into a suitcase?

• 6:31Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 6:31Speaker 04

  What else is in the suitcase?

• 6:34Speaker 00

  That's it.

• 6:35Speaker 03

  That's it. Just a hunk of meat.

• 6:37Speaker 04

  Oh, okay. Where, where, who is doing this? What monstrosity? Is this in like Miami? This has got to be like a nightclub thing.

• 6:46Speaker 03

  It's a Miami beach nightclub thing. It, they call it the beefcase. And I don't know what else you can do with that.

• 6:56Speaker 04

  Oh, my mind goes to a lot of different places that are appropriate for this.

• 7:02Speaker 03

  So supposedly it's like a 50 ounce Australian Wagyu tomahawk steak, which is not a bad cut. That's a, that's a decent cut. It's not a thousand dollars.

• 7:13Speaker 04

  No.

• 7:13Speaker 03

  It's maybe, maybe a hundred, hundred and twenty dollar piece of meat. If it's cooked well, maybe a hundred and fifty. A thousand dollars, that's all performance.

• 7:26Speaker 00

  I mean, we talked about this a couple of years ago when I was, I'd never had a tomahawk and our, our buddies over at, uh, was it Wooddills was selling tomahawks? And I was like, okay, we'll try it out. And it was like a hundred bucks. I was like, okay, well I've tried it. And I don't think I need to do that again.

• 7:42Speaker 03

  I mean, I love myself some ribeyes. Don't get me wrong. I love a ribeye. It's fantastic.

• 7:48Speaker 00

  But a thousand dollars? That's, that's crazy.

• 7:50Speaker 04

  I guarantee you, they never cook this properly either.

• 7:54Speaker 03

  No.

• 7:55Speaker 04

  Like, how do you send that back? And we're like, um, I asked for this medium rare.

• 8:00Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 8:00Speaker 04

  It's great.

• 8:02Speaker 03

  Yeah. I wanted medium rare and you, uh, you made it well done. Where's the ketchup?

• 8:10Speaker 04

  Do you eat ketchup with your steak?

• 8:12Speaker 03

  Absolutely not, never.

• 8:15Speaker 04

  I was just, um.

• 8:17Speaker 03

  Yeah, no. For me, no, for me steak is, uh, the best seasoning is, uh, GSP. Garlic, salt, pepper, maybe a touch of butter.

• 8:26Speaker 04

  Yep.

• 8:27Speaker 03

  That's it. Don't need much more than that.

• 8:28Speaker 04

  Maybe a little rosemary.

• 8:30Speaker 03

  Yep, that's it.

• 8:30Speaker 04

  With the butter.

• 8:32Speaker 03

  But not a thousand dollars for performance art. Sorry, not gonna do it.

• 8:37Speaker 04

  That's not even performance art. That's performance shark.

• 8:41Speaker 03

  That's like literally a thievery is what that is. Uh, that is thievery. Um, hey, so we're gonna do what we do, which is get down to some numbers. And so here's the situation. Uh, congratulations. Um, we are in the longest government shutdown in recorded history. And, uh, every second that it goes by, it's another record. Um, cause it keeps going and going like the Energizer Bunny. Um, can't seem to stop. So what that means is the jobs numbers that we were supposed to get today. It's now two months in a row that we've now not gotten

• 9:24Speaker 03

  the official jobs numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

• 9:28Speaker 04

  So does it really matter? What, how does that impact us though, really? Other than talking about numbers?

• 9:35Speaker 03

  Yeah, it does because a lot of ancillary businesses and private organizations. Now, remember the Federal Reserve is not a government entity. It's quasi-government. And so they use these numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and they use that data to then determine how they're going to shift and move the interest rates going forward. The jobs numbers are a very important indicator for how the Fed is going to do their job. And so if they're not able to get accurate data, they have to extrapolate it from some, somewhere.

• 10:17Speaker 04

  So but there's still some like guesstimate, right, of potentially there was a loss of 60,000 jobs.

• 10:25Speaker 03

  Correct.

• 10:26Speaker 04

  But so where is that coming from?

• 10:28Speaker 03

  Those are from not official sources. That comes from places like B of A, ADP. The Chicago Fed has their own kind of indicators that they look at. So there's a lot of different, you know, guesstimates. But are they official numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics? No, they're not. Is it is it close? Who knows? Remember, we always kind of talked about how ADP could be, you know, month to month could be off by a, you know, 50 to 80,000 jobs, depending upon, you know, which side of the bed they woke up on that morning.

• 11:07Speaker 03

  So not having that data can be, so payroll processing from ADP, they reported earlier on Wednesday that the the US added 42,000 jobs in October. But here we have other estimates saying we lost 60,000 jobs. That's 100,000 jobs, 100,000 job swing. Which one's right? Or is it somewhere in the middle?

• 11:31Speaker 04

  Right.

• 11:31Speaker 03

  Right? So it's very difficult. And B of A is now collecting its own employment data. They're saying that year-over-year payroll growth, the payrolls rose by 0.5%. But but again, you know, these are not, these are not official government numbers that take in all of the data from all of the sources. And so, you know, the estimates right now are basically saying that the US lost about 50 to 60,000 jobs and that the unemployment rate has risen to about 4.5%.

• 12:09Speaker 04

  And it it seems like the smaller businesses are the ones taking the hit or being more conservative with

• 12:17Speaker 03

  Hiring.

• 12:18Speaker 04

  Slow, slow to hire.

• 12:20Speaker 03

  Right.

• 12:20Speaker 04

  Maybe.

• 12:22Speaker 03

  We've also seen recently a big jump in layoffs. So October was one of the biggest months since the COVID. Actually, the biggest months since 2009 in the number of layoffs. So the 2008, 2009 financial crisis, that was huge. A lot of job losses there. Well, without having official numbers from the federal government to tell us that it's actually true, we're going off of some numbers that are maybe not 100% accurate.

• 13:03Speaker 03

  Right? So it's still a bit of a guesstimate on, you know, we're just taking numbers from, hey, this company announced they're going to lay off X number of employees. You know, so we're just kind of adding all those, but we're not taking into account the number of jobs that were added if there was jobs added. Right? So that that net benefit is we're trying to still figure what that is, what that is.

• 13:22Speaker 04

  Also known as alt data.

• 13:25Speaker 03

  Alt data.

• 13:26Speaker 04

  Yeah. Uh, we just had a message pop through.

• 13:29Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 13:29Speaker 04

  Both my neighbors have their Christmas decorations up and music playing all day. I'm over it. How much do you think a family Thanksgiving is going to hurt us at the grocery store? I'm nervous.

• 13:41Speaker 03

  Uh, you know, that's a great question. And Debbie, Stephen and I, we were just out actually at Cap K this morning, filling up boxes, food for seniors over, you know, helping out Cap K, um, doing our, our monthly give back. We've been doing that all year.

• 14:05Speaker 03

  I, I think a lot of us are worried about not just what it's going to cost for us to do our own Thanksgiving dinner. I am a bit more worried about our, our neighbors who aren't going to be able to do one at all. Right? Uh, if And then some. And then some. We're still in a position where, you know, uh, here in Kern County, one in five, one in five children in our community suffer with food insecurity. And it's only going to get worse if SNAP benefits are not turned on.

• 14:40Speaker 03

  Period. Right? And that's, that's what's still going on with this government shutdown, uh, that continues to go on. And, uh, the longer it goes on, um, the hungry, our, the hungrier our community gets.

• 14:55Speaker 03

  Simple as that.

• 14:56Speaker 00

  I mean, we just heard just in the last week on this Money Wise show, not only did we talk to Cap K, but we'll talk, we talked to Jacqueline over at the, uh, Apple Core. And I mean, a lot of, there's so much good in this community that everyone is coming together and hopefully if you can help, you know, look up Cap K, look up the Apple Core. And there's doing, they're, they are doing a lot of things for these people that, you know, are, are not able to get the food until, you know, these SNAP deals are, are figured out. So I know it's a tough thing and, you know, if it wasn't for, you know, community people like you guys out there at, at Cap K and you know, and I know I'm missing, there's, there's so many different nonprofits that help out. So

• 15:39Speaker 00

  if you can help out, I will leave all those, uh, links in the podcast notes like I have all week.

• 15:46Speaker 03

  They're always looking for volunteers.

• 15:47Speaker 04

  Or if you are out there as a listener and you are part of a nonprofit or you know of a nonprofit or a group of people that are, are organizing food distribution hubs, please, you know, shoot a text into the show and we'll try to share the information if we can.

• 16:04Speaker 00

  Exactly.

• 16:04Speaker 03

  And if you can't donate time or, uh, you know, the things like that, that they will always take funds. They can always use that as well.

• 16:11Speaker 04

  Well, there's a good, I read a, a good Good point. Um, a, an organization like Cap K who has purchasing power, if you will, a dollar with Cap K goes a lot farther than a dollar from a, uh, or like if we were to donate food directly. So sometimes donating dollars to those or bigger nonprofit organizations can go a lot farther than.

• 16:36Speaker 03

  Yeah, because they're buying bulk. They're able to buy a lot more. And so it's, it's really good for them to do that. So, yeah, uh, you know, I, there is some news out of Walmart saying that they're gonna give a, you know, do a, a Thanksgiving dinner for like 25% less than they did last year. It'd be interesting to see what the, what, side by side, what they did last year for what they did this year and what's in there and what's missing, what's, what's, you know, but, you know, uh, I, I, I'm still a little bit concerned about just our, our neighbors in general. So, um, it'll be an interesting, it'll be an interesting holiday season, to be sure. Um,

• 17:15Speaker 03

  getting back to the numbers, though, um, the Dow and the S and P did finish the day up slightly. They kind of, you know, clawed their way back up. The NASDAQ, however, you know, here's the thing, AI and, and tech, um, it had the worst week since, uh, April, when, uh, you know, we were talking about tariffs back in April of this year. Um, tech took a real dive. Well, now tech is having a bit of a problem and it's also a little bit of, because of AI is, folks are kind of wondering, is there a bit of a bubble? And we can talk about that a little bit more when we come back. Uh, we'll take a quick break and we'll come back, talk a little bit about AI.

• 17:57Speaker 00

  Money Wise Wealth Management is the only locally owned, independent firm that uses a comprehensive wealth tax and estate approach, working closely with a highly trusted CPA and attorney. For information on how Money Wise can help you invest and plan for your future, call 661-847-1000.

• 18:24Speaker 03

  Welcome back to the show. Welcome back to Money Wise.

• 18:30Speaker 03

  During the break, got a call from my wife. Sun's a little bit under the weather, so check on your kids. It's going around. It is fall. It's, uh, school's back in session, so got little sick, sick kids at home, so.

• 18:41Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 18:42Speaker 03

  Check them out. Make sure everybody's okay.

• 18:45Speaker 04

  I hope she feels better.

• 18:47Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 18:48Speaker 04

  Uh, Justin, before we welcome Amanda onto the show, um, let's address, uh, two, two previous questions that we had come in, uh, since yesterday.

• 18:58Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 18:59Speaker 04

  First one, I'm 66 and recently divorced after 20 years of marriage. My ex lives in Fresno and has a successful business. I know I might be eligible for spousal benefits based on his record, but I'm not sure if my own CalPERS pension from working for the county will affect this. Who do I speak to about claiming divorced spousal benefits? P.S. The Woolworths Reuben is yummy. Much better than I remember.

• 19:24Speaker 03

  It is yummy. Um, so good news. Um, you know, so if you're divorced and you've had more than 10 years of marriage and your ex-husband has a solid work record, uh, you should be eligible for social security benefits, uh, from that record. Um, even if he's remarried, uh, even if you haven't been in touch for years, um, here's the update. So, you know, up until recently, um, if you were part of CalPERS or other government pension kind of a situation, um, you had a government pension offset. And so that was an issue that you couldn't get around. Well, that's changed. Back in January, the Social Security Fairness Act was signed into the law and that repealed the government pension, uh, offset and the related like windfall, uh, the windfall elimination provisions.

• 20:09Speaker 03

  And so that means that CalPERS pension is no longer reducing your social security survivor or spousal benefits. So, um,

• 20:27Speaker 03

  If you need some help on that, call MoneyWise, give us a shout, we'll talk you through that. You can call the Social Security Administration, they'll probably give you the same information. In fact, they will. But yeah, definitely chat about that. But your government pension, your PERS pension should not, at this point, affect your Social Security benefits and what you're eligible for because of the Social Security Fairness Act from January. Great question, though.

• 20:54Speaker 04

  Yeah, thank you for that. One more quick one. What happens if I put solar panels on my house or office now and in a couple of years I sell? Does the new owner keep the solar benefits or do I lose out?

• 21:07Speaker 03

  Ooh, good question. So, it depends on whether you bought it or leased it. Right? So if you install the solar on your office now and you sell the building later, the system generally transfers with the property and so do the benefits. But that doesn't mean, so the new owner of the building is going to get the ongoing energy savings, like that their bill is going to go down, right? But that doesn't necessarily that you, as the prior owner, quote-unquote, "lose out." Here's why. You put solar on the building, which basically lowers the operating cost of that building. It's now got a clean energy appeal. It potentially could have a higher sale value, right?

• 21:49Speaker 03

  So you could potentially get a little bit back from the sale value of that property. The tax credits and depreciation. So if you bought the system, you didn't lease it, but you bought the system. You get to keep those federal tax credits and the investment tax credits and the depreciation benefits and all that stuff that you get to claim while you owned it. Okay? Now, if you leased it or have a PPA kind of a platform or something like that, then you'll need to either transfer that agreement to the new buyer, buy out the system before the sale, and it's going to kind of depend on your contract with the solar platform. But if you bought it, you're in good shape.

• 22:32Speaker 03

  If you leased it, it's going to be a little bit of a question as to what's going to happen for you. But you don't completely lose out. You do get a little bit of a bump in the value of the property and you get to keep those tax credits. So, not a bad deal.

• 22:47Speaker 04

  Another great question.

• 22:48Speaker 03

  That's a good question.

• 22:48Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 22:49Speaker 03

  All right. Um, yeah, so we have a couple, well, we're getting from close to the break, but I do want to talk about, and maybe we can kind of stretch this into the final segment of the show. Um, but talking about AI and the potential bubble that we might be in, and I think that there's something that's going on right now that may look similar to what we would call like a canary in the coal mine. Um, and what I'm talking about is Elon Musk and his quote unquote trillion dollar pay package that was just approved by the Tesla board. Um, there's a couple of reasons I'm saying this, and we can talk about this in the next,

• 23:33Speaker 03

  uh, in, in, in the final segment of the show. Um, but really, in essence, looking at the metrics that, that Tesla would have to meet and that, that Elon would have to meet specifically, it's extraordinarily ambitious, almost to the point of being implausible, right? Which leads me to another couple of questions. What is the board thinking? Right? They're putting these gold-

• 24:01Speaker 04

  Seventy-five percent of the Tesla shareholders approved this pay package.

• 24:06Speaker 03

  Yeah. They, they approved the pay package because it's the cult of personality thing, and they think that this is going to continue to have, you know, 20% or 30% growth for the foreseeable future, when that's just not sustainable. Right? And so that's just, you know, is that going to be attainable? Um, and so that's where I kind of, we'll, we'll talk about it more in, in more detail. What we're going to do right now, we're going to take a quick break. We're at the bottom of the hour. When we come back, we have Amanda Di Giacomo joining us. Uh, we'll be, we'll be right back. Are you curious to learn more about how you can be money wise? Check out the Money Wise website at MoneyWiseGuys.com to get more- More info.

• 24:54Speaker 03

  Welcome back to the Money Wise Show. It's Friday. Taking you into the weekend. Can't wait. Got some plans this weekend there Debbie?

• 25:04Speaker 04

  Uh, yeah, it's a busy weekend around town. A lot of community events going on. There's a whole thing called art heist happening downtown.

• 25:14Speaker 03

  Art heist.

• 25:16Speaker 04

  Huge art crawl, Okihi's Fall Fest. There's a garden.

• 25:20Speaker 03

  Symphony's got a concert on Saturday night, uh, all sorts of things. And to add to that,

• 25:28Speaker 03

  we have ourselves Amanda Di Giacomo, who's going to be talking to us about a free holiday event, the holiday pop-up event that's actually happening tomorrow, correct? Amanda, thank you for joining us. Are you there?

• 25:40Speaker 05

  Yes, I'm here. How are you guys?

• 25:42Speaker 03

  Wonderful, wonderful. It's good to hear from you again. It's been a while.

• 25:47Speaker 05

  Yeah, I am. I've been loving all of your guys' uh, you know, recent business moves and supporting you guys from afar and it's been awesome. I'm sure you guys are trying to settle into the new office. So um, I'm sure there's a lot of changes, but congrats on the move.

• 26:03Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah.

• 26:04Speaker 04

  It was good to see you at the block party.

• 26:06Speaker 05

  Yes, that was fun. I can't, I felt like that was such a great block party. I feel like they should do that once a summer or in the fall. I guess since it's 100 degrees in the summer. It was so lively. They had a whole street blocked off. There was vendors, a band and like the community really came out in support and it was just a really awesome event to attend.

• 26:26Speaker 03

  Yeah, it was really a lot of fun and it was, it was a labor of love. I will say that. It was a lot of fun.

• 26:32Speaker 04

  I mean, we didn't do anything.

• 26:34Speaker 03

  We didn't do anything. We just showed up.

• 26:36Speaker 04

  Enjoyed it like you did, but we're very excited for our, our bosses who are the owners of this big, beautiful project. Um, it's just exciting to be around it, in it, and also eat a lot of cheeseburgers downstairs.

• 26:52Speaker 03

  My, my gut is already three inches wider than it was before. Um, but besides the point, so you have an event coming up tomorrow. It's a free holiday pop-up event. Can you explain what that is and where, when and how? All the good.

• 27:07Speaker 05

  Yeah, of course. Uh, so it's called the Holiday Extravaganza. We do have an Instagram page. That you can follow us on. Of course now my voice goes off.

• 27:19Speaker 03

  Okay, well, she's trying to.

• 27:23Speaker 00

  That's what you're supposed to feel, Justin.

• 27:25Speaker 03

  I'm trying to feel.

• 27:28Speaker 04

  Steffi, step in.

• 27:29Speaker 03

  Steffi, step in. What's going on?

• 27:31Speaker 06

  Hey, guys. I will step in to have some tea with you guys. And to give her a little bit of time, I just wanted to say as well, congratulations. And I see that the Greater Bakersfield Chamber is hosting a coffee with you guys on Wednesday, November 12.

• 27:47Speaker 03

  That's right.

• 27:49Speaker 06

  But to just kind of give Amanda a little bit of time, I'd like for her to explain what this is all about. Amanda is the treasurer of Power Hub Bakersfield, and of course, as you guys know, she made a fantastic move to her new location. She's partnered up with Tech Express and of course, Kyle W. Jones, attorney. So it's a.

• 28:13Speaker 03

  Kyle Jones from the law offices of Kyle Jones.

• 28:15Speaker 06

  There you go. And so.

• 28:20Speaker 06

  And so we want to definitely bring that awareness to the entire community because as you guys know, Amanda supports a lot of small to mid-sized businesses and she's done a fantastic job these last, I'm going to say about five years now. And so with that, we've put our brains together and we are putting on a vendor event. So take it away, Amanda.

• 28:45Speaker 05

  Yeah, thank you. Can't believe my voice just completely went out there. But yeah, it's called the Holiday Extravaganza. I do own a local accounting firm and so I work with tons of local businesses from small to large sizes. And we decided I wanted to do like a value add and offer this pop-up event so that my clients that like sell items can kind of get these sales right before the holidays. And we did just move to a new location where I do partner with a local IT and security company and a law office that does trust.

• 29:20Speaker 05

  And so we decided we were going to use our parking lot for the new building. So we sent it out to our clients first, have them sign up for, you know, vendor booths, and then we open it to the community. And so this was my way of giving back to my clients and small business owners to help them get sales before the holidays. And all of the vendor booth proceeds, as well as a raffle that we're doing the day of, all of those proceeds go to Power Hub Bakersfield, which is where we have Seppi, who is the program director. And so we're really not getting anything from this event. Our company, we're really just trying to, you know, put it out there for the community and support other nonprofits. But it's gonna be amazing.

• 30:03Speaker 05

  We have 52 vendors, from food vendors, vendors that sell plants, home decor, jewelry. And we have a golf simulator. We have a station where the kids can make homemade slime, and they can put glitter and all the colors on the slime. We have face painting and tattoos for the kids, like the fake tattoos. We have a Henna person. We just have all these different types of vendors, Pilates, amazing food vendors, a bunch of bakeries with cheesecakes and cake pops and cookies. And so it's just gonna be a fun, filled day for you to come out, bring the family, get

• 30:44Speaker 05

  some of those Secret Santa and like little gifts for, you know, before the craziness of the holidays like happened. And that was kind of the idea about it. And we just wanted a fun event that gave back to the community and then also, you know, sponsored a local nonprofit.

• 31:02Speaker 05

  And so I'm super, super excited to have Seppi, so she can kind of explain what Power Hub Bakersfield is. She just mentioned I am the treasure, but it's just an amazing event that's also helping entrepreneurs and small business owners, and so I thought it was fitting to pair them together.

• 31:17Speaker 03

  Absolutely. So Seppi, tell us a little bit about Power Hub and the nonprofit and what it's doing in the community.

• 31:24Speaker 05

  So just to give you a quick synopsis, it's ideally...

• 31:29Speaker 06

  A nonprofit that helps support entrepreneurs and their C-suite professionals, meaning the leaders and upcoming leaders in the community. It really falls under the umbrella of a workforce and professional development. It's really bringing a community together, bringing industry experts. We've had several industry experts in the last two years come and educate the business owners and their teams on various topics. And they they range anywhere from finance to tax to leadership, even team building. So it's a plethora of different topics that can definitely help set the tone when businesses are growing. And it's businesses that have been in business three plus years, but we welcome everybody truly.

• 32:13Speaker 03

  Yeah, absolutely. And that's a great op, a great way to help the small businesses and to grow is through the the leadership of the organization as well.

• 32:25Speaker 04

  If somebody out there is a business owner and maybe is interested in connecting, what is the best way for them to get plugged in?

• 32:34Speaker 06

  If you can follow us on socials, we are growing our presence on LinkedIn. In addition to that, we have Instagram, so it's Power Hub underscore Bakersfield. And of course, we have our website. It is Power Hub Bakersfield dot org. And for most people that have met me in the community in the past seven to eight years, you can reach me directly. I'm pretty boots on the ground out there in the community as well. So just come out and talk to me and and happy to share those that information with you guys.

• 33:06Speaker 03

  That's awesome. So that's tomorrow. And where where is the the event?

• 33:12Speaker 05

  That's at eight two two four Espresso Drive, Bakersfield, California. So it's behind the Rosedale Wal Walmart Shopping Center in between Senior Pepe's and Goodwill, kind of tucked back there in the little cul-de-sac.

• 33:26Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 33:26Speaker 05

  Um, parking is going to be limited. I think we have about a hundred spots maybe available on the street. So it is going to be kind of limited on parking, but we're hoping that people come for a little bit, leave, and then more people can come. And we are expected to have a couple hundred people like show up we've been pushing it for the last month and it got really good traction on Instagram already and and like I said we have fifty two vendors that's fifty two small business owners here in Kern County that you can come and support you know them especially during these hard times right before the holidays um it's just a great cause um it's and it's family fun there's just so many things to do we even have uh Saint Florian

• 34:06Speaker 05

  for the gentlemen that are gonna come out uh with their wives and their family he's gonna be making like personalized leather like posters or like personalized leather hats and things like that and I know Saint Florian is also sponsoring the Gruen and Bruin event for JJ's Legacy uh this weekend I had them on our podcast uh that's an amazing event if you don't know about JJ's Legacy and their Bruin and Gruin uh event they're gonna have Joe Peters as entertainment uh it's just an event they call it cowboy chic and it's just fun put your boots on come dancing have some barbecue and support a really good cause which that cause is helping organ donors and so um as Debbie said there's so many events this weekend I'm sure people are gonna be picking and choosing

• 34:51Speaker 05

  hopefully we're one of them but I agree I agree he's a great one

• 34:56Speaker 04

  I did I went to that JJ's Legacy one last year I have a leather birakazi from that vendor they were amazing that team they were so friendly and excited and they make a beautiful product and that is a really fun event to go to

• 35:10Speaker 05

  yeah I'm super happy for them they actually got to sponsor the JJ's Legacy event again and they made these amazing hats that have like embroidered leather on the top and that's what they're giving away at JJ's um tomorrow and I've seen the products we have Joe Peters wearing them on our podcast um and it was so cool uh but they're gonna be live at our event making those types of things for the public as well and so um yeah so a- again this weekend is all about community whether you're supporting us or JJ's or uh the art heist or anything else that's going on just get out there and support our local community what Bakersfield's great for anyways um but yeah it's gonna be a fun weekend

• 35:51Speaker 03

  That's gonna be a lot of stuff going on this weekend, but definitely if you can check out the the holiday extravaganza tomorrow on Espresso Drive. Amanda and Seppi, thank you very much for joining us today. We're gonna take a quick break and we'll be right back.

• 36:08Speaker 00

  Are you an employee with a company-sponsored retirement plan? Do you fully understand how you're invested and whether or not you are maximizing your retirement plan's options? For more information on a free assessment, contact MoneyWise's 401(k) Specialist, Justin Leland, at 661-847-1000. That's 661-847-1000.

• 36:34Speaker 03

  Welcome back to the Money Wise Show. Final segment taking us into the weekend. Yee-haw!

• 36:43Speaker 04

  We made it!

• 36:44Speaker 03

  We made it!

• 36:45Speaker 04

  I'm a question.

• 36:48Speaker 04

  Just before we jump into the Elon AI chat that we teased earlier, we did have a question come through about CAPK. A listener, Casey, actually, from Art Heist, was wanting to know if anybody out in the community wanted to make a donation if CAPK takes that. And the answer is yes, yes, yes, and yes. If you are interested in donating funds, or volunteering, or donating food, you can go to CAPK's website, which is cap, C-A-P-K dot org backslash shutdown. Or if you just go to CAPK, there's a Programs tab up at the top, and you just find the

• 37:32Speaker 04

  Government Shutdown Response section.

• 37:34Speaker 03

  And we'll make sure that that's gonna be on the podcast notes as well. So if you download the podcast, you'll be able to see the notes on there. And we'll have a link to CAPK from there as well. So, yeah, definitely do that. Now, getting back to kind of the topic of Elon Musk and the trillion-dollar, potential trillion-dollar payout. So here's what's really going on. So Tesla's board and its shareholders approved this compensation package that would potentially pay him a trillion dollars, the first trillionaire in history. But the package has some very ambitious performance targets. For him to receive the full payout,

• 38:16Speaker 03

  Tesla would need to grow its market value, which is currently at 1.6 trillion, would need to grow that to 8.5 trillion. So basically 6X, six times larger than it is today. Okay, in a decade, okay? So that's implying about a 20% year-over-year return every single year. Okay, which is, I mean, is it doable? Potentially, possibly, but it's a pretty, it's a pushing the number.

• 38:50Speaker 04

  He's going to have to start taking a lot more than ketamine.

• 38:53Speaker 03

  Yes, there's going to be a lot more ketamine flowing through Tesla's C-suite. So alongside that valuation target, there's other huge operational milestones that need to be met beyond that. It's okay, they need to have a much greater expanded vehicle production. They need to get the robo taxi running, so they need to be able to compete with Waymo and some of these others. The humanoid robot, which is still, it's there but not there, and all of these other things. And here's the big thing, EBITDA. Now, do you know what EBITDA stands for, Debbie?

• 39:31Speaker 04

  EBITDA, EBITDA.

• 39:32Speaker 03

  EBITDA, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Okay, basically profit.

• 39:41Speaker 04

  You're talking my language.

• 39:43Speaker 03

  Right, I know, I'm the EBITDA guy. So right now Tesla's EBITDA is, you know, they need to reach an EBITDA of around $400 billion. Right now their EBITDA is around $16 billion. So they need to grow that to $400 billion. That is the part that I look at and say, what are you smoking? It's gonna be nearly impossible to do that.

• 40:15Speaker 04

  As some folks have been quoted saying, this is outrageous. This is Everest-sized ambition.

• 40:24Speaker 03

  Yeah. So here's my, so this is why I say, and then tying this into the AI thing. And so we can tie it, kind of do a parallel here between Tesla and Elon Musk and say like Nvidia, right? So Nvidia is the most valuable company on the planet, right? Nvidia with their chips and their market cap is the largest company on the planet. So Nvidia is under a huge amount of pressure to justify their current stock price to their investors.

• 41:02Speaker 03

  The thing about Wall Street and the thing about investors, Wall Street loves to go back to fundamentals. And right here, these types of compensation packages that are based on really insane valuations, say a couple of things.

• 41:29Speaker 03

  If a company or its board is offering this extreme compensation, quote unquote, only payable if you can reach the galaxy, the growth is like out of this world. It reflects extreme confidence or speculative excess. Like you're, you're really like speculating that things are going to be really, really good. And they may not be as good as you think they're going to be. So for most investors, what does it mean to you? It's a reminder to check how much risk you're taking. Because if this doesn't work out for Tesla, or if this doesn't work out for Nvidia, and AI is truly in a bubble, right?

• 42:13Speaker 03

  Where do you think the stock prices are going to go for those, for those companies?

• 42:19Speaker 03

  Right? That's not a warning. That's not me saying that this is going to happen. It's just be cognizant and look at your portfolio to make sure you are taking the proper risk and that you're not overweight on things that could potentially cause harm.

• 42:35Speaker 04

  Not you, Stephen.

• 42:36Speaker 03

  Not you, Stephen. I'm overweight too.

• 42:40Speaker 04

  Before the record, Stephen gestured to his belly. I did not make that up.

• 42:44Speaker 03

  Right.

• 42:48Speaker 03

  But see, Wall Street wants to go back to normalcy and go back to fundamentals, right? And so if, if the stock price of a company is based upon its profit and its EBITDA and all of those things, and the stock price is based upon those growth potentials and those and those numbers are not met,

• 43:11Speaker 03

  then the the stock comes back down to where it should be, right? So just be wary about when you see these types of things, these types of offers, these types of things from boards. It's it's many times they're putting this carrot out in front of folks and it's it's maybe a bit excessive. And I would argue this one is definitely excessive. I don't see them making this number.

• 43:35Speaker 04

  What a world we live in where somebody negotiates a trillion dollar payday and overnight loses $10 billion and it doesn't matter to him. Like, that's wild.

• 43:47Speaker 03

  He didn't negotiate it. He demanded it and they gave it to him.

• 43:50Speaker 04

  And 75% went, yes, yes, okay.

• 43:53Speaker 03

  Sir, yeah, absolutely.

• 43:55Speaker 04

  We are sick.

• 43:56Speaker 03

  Hey, I wish I was a trillionaire, but I'm not.

• 44:00Speaker 04

  I don't. I don't want that kind of money. More money, more problems.

• 44:04Speaker 03

  Be smart, be safe, be money wise. Have a wonderful weekend.

• 44:08Speaker 02

  LPL Financial member FINRA, SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through LPL Financial. LPL Financial and Money Wise Wealth Management are independently owned and operated.