2/6/26 Dow Hits 5K, Crypto Check & a Conversation With Brian Miller of CTEC

The Moneywise Radio Show and Podcast Friday, February 6th BE MONEYWISE. Moneywise Wealth Management I "The Moneywise Radio Show & Podcast" call: 661-847-1000 text in anytime: 661-396-1000 website: www. MoneywiseGuys.com facebook: Moneywise_Wealth_Management LinkedIn: Moneywise_Wealth_Management Guest: Brian Miller, ROC & CTEC Principal, KHSD website: https://roc.kernhigh.org/ The opinions voiced in this podcast are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. To determine which strategies or investments may be suitable for you, consult the appropriate qualified professional prior to making a decision. Brian Miller and his business are not affiliated with nor endorsed by LPL Financial or Moneywise Wealth Management].

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Live from the basement inside the historic Woolworths Building in downtown Bakersfield.

• 0:05Speaker 01

  Call or text in at 661-396-1000.

• 0:29Speaker 02

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

• 0:37Speaker 00

  Now, let's start the MoneyWise Show.

• 0:41Speaker 03

  Welcome, welcome to the Friday edition of the MoneyWise Show. Live from the basement of the historic Woolworths Building in downtown Bakersfield. Beautiful day today. Had a wonderful Cobb salad at the counter here for lunch. It was fantastic.

• 0:58Speaker 03

  For the next hour, you're on KGO Money Talk, 1230 AM, 101.1 FM, and always streaming at MoneyWiseGuys.com on any device, your interwebs. You can call or text into the show anytime, 24 hours a day, 661-396-1000, 661-396-1000. We love all of our listeners. If you want to engage with us and join the show, by all means, give us a call or text in your questions. We're here to answer them for you. We're your hosts today. I'm Justin Leland here with...

• 1:32Speaker 04

  Debbie Lewis.

• 1:33Speaker 03

  Debbie.

• 1:34Speaker 04

  Steven Justin.

• 1:36Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:36Speaker 04

  Steven Justin.

• 1:39Speaker 03

  Yep, absolutely. It's going to be a great show today. We actually have a great show because we have Brian Miller, Principal of CTEC and the ROC from Kern High School District, coming in to chat with us about what's going on with our, I guess you could say, career technical education and the programs that they have out there.

• 2:03Speaker 00

  And yesterday, we did tease that there will be an announcement today on the show.

• 2:08Speaker 03

  There will be an announcement and... And uh, yeah, we're not going to steal our thunder. Can't do that.

• 2:13Speaker 04

  Save it for the segment.

• 2:14Speaker 03

  Save it for the Brian Miller segment.

• 2:17Speaker 04

  He's a great guy, a great part, a wonderful community partner.

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  Good friend.

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  They are doing some trail, trail blazing work locally and, and.

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  Amazing work.

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  Similar types of institutions across the country. Look to what we've got going on here in Kern County.

• 2:34Speaker 03

  Yeah, they use us as a benchmark in many, many ways. And my two older sons actually went through the ROC and the CTEC program. So I, I can speak to just how important those uh, technical education programs really are for our community. So he's doing a fantastic job. So he's coming in, uh, in the next segment. And so we're looking forward to that conversation, but.

• 2:57Speaker 04

  What about the markets?

• 2:59Speaker 03

  Well, what about that Super Bowl?

• 3:01Speaker 04

  Oh, that.

• 3:02Speaker 03

  Yeah. Is anybody going to watch this weekend?

• 3:03Speaker 04

  Nobody watches football.

• 3:05Speaker 03

  Watches. I watch the commercials, at least at this point.

• 3:08Speaker 00

  I think they said 130 million people and close to a billion worldwide watching.

• 3:14Speaker 04

  Crazy.

• 3:15Speaker 03

  That's only like one in eight people on the planet watching the game. I don't think that all of them are actually watching the game. I think they're looking.

• 3:22Speaker 04

  It's just on a TV.

• 3:23Speaker 03

  It's on a TV, just in general vicinity. Right.

• 3:27Speaker 00

  The, the real question is what are you cooking?

• 3:31Speaker 03

  So I have uh, beer brats.

• 3:35Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 3:35Speaker 03

  Uh, some grilled onions, beer, beer brats. Uh, we didn't go to, I mean, cause let's face it, my Packers are not in the game. So having the beer brats with the imported cheese curds was probably not going to happen. So uh, if the Packers had made it though.

• 3:51Speaker 00

  It'd been a cheese fest.

• 3:52Speaker 03

  Dude, you have no idea how much cheese would be flowing. Yes, there'd be cheese flowing through my veins. So yeah, that's not going to happen this year.

• 4:01Speaker 04

  Steven, what are you making and who are you rooting for?

• 4:03Speaker 00

  I'm rooting uh, just like any other day, anyone but the Patriots.

• 4:07Speaker 03

  Pretty much.

• 4:08Speaker 00

  And uh.

• 4:09Speaker 04

  I love how much people hate the Patriots.

• 4:11Speaker 03

  It's a fantastic love.

• 4:12Speaker 04

  Makes me like them even more.

• 4:14Speaker 00

  Right. And uh, I know a big shout out to Greg Curran, his son. I know he's a big time. Patriot fan, but I bleed till in orange. So

• 4:23Speaker 03

  At least for the next forty eight hours.

• 4:25Speaker 00

  My dolphins and I cannot root for the Patriots. That's just not gonna happen. But we're making ribs, ribs and some steak kebabs from Wooddale Meat Market.

• 4:35Speaker 03

  There you go. Love me some, some Wooddale.

• 4:38Speaker 00

  My son finally got his braces off, so he asked for ribs.

• 4:42Speaker 03

  Ryan, poor Ryan.

• 4:44Speaker 00

  And I had the owners, Chris and Israel from, from Wooddale and they told me about these dino ribs.

• 4:52Speaker 03

  Oh, those are huge. Yeah. The big, the big beef ribs.

• 4:54Speaker 00

  And I was like, okay.

• 4:55Speaker 03

  They're amazing.

• 4:56Speaker 00

  A sixteen year old, he wants ribs. So let's get some dino ribs.

• 4:59Speaker 03

  Some big old dino ribs. It's gonna be Fred Flintstone flipping over the truck.

• 5:02Speaker 04

  Question, do you barbecue or do you bake your ribs?

• 5:06Speaker 00

  I bake mine.

• 5:06Speaker 04

  Me too.

• 5:07Speaker 00

  I bake mine. I like it when it just falls off.

• 5:11Speaker 03

  Nope. Nobody smokes them?

• 5:13Speaker 00

  No.

• 5:13Speaker 04

  No.

• 5:14Speaker 00

  I don't have the time to be sitting there and smoking something all day. I could just put it in the oven, run around.

• 5:20Speaker 03

  Let it rip.

• 5:21Speaker 00

  But I'm, I'm hooked these, these steak kebabs. I'm sure, have you tried those?

• 5:26Speaker 03

  I haven't done the steak kebabs. I'm so stuck. I'm still stuck on the, the baseball cut.

• 5:30Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 5:30Speaker 03

  Have you had that? I mean, that's to me is like very beefy flavor. I love those steaks. I know they're, you know, it's like a top sirloin kind of a thing. And not a whole heck of a lot of, not a whole heck of a lot of marbling, but man, they're so good. It's such a deep, rich, beefy flavor. That's why I love those.

• 5:46Speaker 04

  So many jokes are coming to mind right now.

• 5:49Speaker 00

  You're setting them up.

• 5:50Speaker 03

  Set them up. Tee them up.

• 5:52Speaker 00

  What is really going on in the markets?

• 5:54Speaker 03

  Man, uh, you know, we've been talking, Stephen, probably for the past month. You've heard me say, Debbie, I think you've heard me say, when is the Dow going to finally cross fifty thousand? Because a month ago, we got to like forty nine thousand nine fifty. And then it came back down and then it came back up and it came back down. It been bouncing up to that fifty thousand mark for the past like four weeks, four or five weeks.

• 6:18Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 6:19Speaker 03

  Well, today it finally crossed over and closed over 50,000. So yay Dow Jones. Congratulations for hitting another arbitrary number.

• 6:28Speaker 04

  But I mean, overall, the US stocks are mixed, right? And it was a shaky week.

• 6:34Speaker 03

  It was a shaky week because the tech stocks, the S and P 500 and the NASDAQ actually closed the week in negative territory, even after going up almost 2% just today. Right? So the NASDAQ being tech-heavy had some pretty serious sell-offs earlier on in the week. And even after this 2% gain today, a huge gain, didn't get it really, it basically closed flat or slightly less, slightly lower on the week. Same with the S and P 500. However, the Dow, which is the dumb Dow for a reason, it's only 30 companies. You're looking at these 30 companies and it's actually up for the week by about 2%. So for the week, you have a mixed market today.

• 7:19Speaker 03

  A lot of green on the screen. The Dow was up over 1,200 points and closed the week at a, you know, pretty rocking up 2% for the week, which is pretty high, pretty, pretty big gain for the week. Is it sustainable? Who knows? I think it's just coming back to where it wanted to be.

• 7:38Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 7:40Speaker 03

  Because the, the tech stocks had really sold off over the previous couple of sessions. And this was just a rebound and bounce back to, to more where it was, right?

• 7:50Speaker 04

  And the, and my understanding is the markets, they're not holding their breath for any big cuts, right? From the Fed.

• 7:59Speaker 03

  No.

• 8:00Speaker 04

  The interest rates will stay pretty steady.

• 8:03Speaker 03

  Yeah, we're still looking at probably two rate cuts between now and the end of the year. Of course, that's the prognosticators. They're saying it's going to be two rate cuts. And that's very possible. It's also possible that they don't do any. Because, you know, if the labor market continues to slow and inflation is tamped down for the most part, then maybe they stay put.

• 8:23Speaker 04

  And there's a, is there a delay on the jobs report because of the temporary shutdown?

• 8:29Speaker 03

  Still a little bit of a delay, but I think we're still going to get some numbers. But again, you know.

• 8:33Speaker 04

  When should it have come out?

• 8:34Speaker 03

  Wednesday.

• 8:35Speaker 04

  Oh, okay.

• 8:36Speaker 03

  Thursday, Thursday.

• 8:39Speaker 03

  But yeah, it's probably going to be another week before we see those numbers. And we'll know better at that point. But, you know, for the Dow Jones to be up almost 2.5%.

• 8:49Speaker 03

  On the day, that's huge. That's a big, big gain. But again, it's the dumb Dow for a reason. Da, da, da. You know, it's. Yeah, let's move on. You know, the other thing about it, though, remember. So the tech stocks have been hit really hard over the past few days, couple of weeks.

• 9:11Speaker 03

  Look at what's happening to the cryptocurrency world. Look at what's happening to Bitcoin. It's down 50% in the past couple of weeks.

• 9:21Speaker 04

  So what drove that? What I I made a

• 9:25Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 9:25Speaker 04

  joke off air because of headlines, but like, what? What do you think is the real reason for that?

• 9:32Speaker 03

  I do see that there is a a market movement away from really risky assets. And I know that sounds weird coming from a day when the market's up 2% because technically equities and stock would be considered a risk on asset. But there's levels of risk on assets.

• 9:51Speaker 04

  Right.

• 9:51Speaker 03

  Right? So certain stocks, blue chips, S and P 500. You know, those types of stocks are, while still volatile, are way less volatile than, say, Bitcoin or even gold for that matter. So some of these other higher volatility securities or cryptocurrencies or whatever the case may be. When things are getting a little bit worrisome in the economy or whatever, then people pull money out of those risk on assets and move more towards some of the issues that are a bit less risky, i.e. bonds or something like that. Well, if you're trying to de-risk and you own a boatload of Bitcoin,

• 10:35Speaker 03

  right? If you're trying to de-risk, well, maybe de-risking for you is leaving Bitcoin and moving back into the stock market.

• 10:42Speaker 04

  Or gold. Apparently, gold, I'm not saying go into gold to anybody, but gold has soared, right?

• 10:48Speaker 03

  Well, gold has actually fallen. It fell in in lockstep with the Bitcoin here recently. It got over $4,000 a share and then it came back down. I think it's actually kind of rebounded a little bit, but it was it had lost like. 25% of its value in a short order, gold and silver. But now I think it's actually come back to, you know, where it was, but there was, there was a couple of days there where it's like, yeah, maybe gold is not the proper, you know, investment for some people right now.

• 11:18Speaker 04

  Hey, do we have time for comments?

• 11:21Speaker 03

  Sure.

• 11:21Speaker 04

  We have a couple of viewers that sent in, or questions, I guess I should say. Do we have time?

• 11:26Speaker 03

  Bingo. Let's do it.

• 11:27Speaker 04

  All right. The first one. How are retirees taxed differently now, especially when it comes to social security or retirement withdrawals? Thanks again. And do you have any local CPAs you could suggest ours recently retired?

• 11:43Speaker 03

  Yes, we know CPAs. Yes, give us a call. I'm not going to put it out over the air.

• 11:47Speaker 04

  Depends on your name.

• 11:48Speaker 03

  It depends on your situation.

• 11:49Speaker 04

  There are a lot of wonderful CPAs.

• 11:50Speaker 03

  Yeah, there's, there's a lot of really, really good professional CPAs out there. So it really kind of depends on what you're looking for and what your situation is. But give us a call and we can kind of go through that. But to answer the first question, which is, how are retirees treated differently?

• 12:08Speaker 03

  The OB3 bill, the one big beautiful bill that was just recently passed.

• 12:14Speaker 03

  People that are 65 and older, there's a higher standard deduction. There's all these things that are kind of going on. Social Security is still quote unquote taxable, but the increase in the standard deduction makes that taxability less prevalent. So, you know, again, remember, social security is taxed at a lower percentage, not, not overall percentage, but less of your social security income is treated as income to you. So your tax rate winds up being lower. So in essence, if you are living on purely on social security and no other income, effectively you're tax exempt.

• 12:55Speaker 03

  Right? If you have other income sources beyond your social security, say a pension or a 401k or other distributions that are coming out, that income is added to your social security. And then there's a calculation that goes in, but essentially your tax bracket is lower in retirement because of your social security benefits than it would be if otherwise other income sources. So I hope that answers your question.

• 13:19Speaker 04

  And you could always go to the IRS's government page, IRS.gov.

• 13:25Speaker 03

  IRS.gov.

• 13:25Speaker 04

  And then maybe if you're lazy like I am and you don't want to read all of this weird technical stuff.

• 13:31Speaker 03

  Don't chat GPT it. Don't, don't, don't do the chat GPT thing.

• 13:37Speaker 04

  Give me highlights.

• 13:39Speaker 03

  Synopsize this for me. Um, yeah, it's, yeah, be careful with AI and chat GPT.

• 13:46Speaker 04

  Find a good CPA.

• 13:48Speaker 03

  Find a good CPA.

• 13:49Speaker 04

  Sit down and ask them specifically about your situation.

• 13:53Speaker 03

  Right.

• 13:53Speaker 04

  It's the best route to go.

• 13:55Speaker 03

  Right, absolutely.

• 13:56Speaker 04

  Uh, the next question, we covered, right? We're good on that one?

• 14:00Speaker 03

  Yes, we're good on that one.

• 14:01Speaker 04

  Okay, the next viewer or listener said, I will be 47 next month, getting old fast. Hey, easy there.

• 14:10Speaker 03

  I resemble that remark.

• 14:12Speaker 04

  Getting old fast, but is it ever too late to start with a Roth IRA?

• 14:17Speaker 03

  No, absolutely not too late to start a Roth. Um, in fact, you are probably in a good place and of course don't know all of the situation. There's a lot of things that questions would, you know, what is your income? Where, where do you work? Do you have a Roth capability within your 401k or not? What, what is the overall situation? Right? But under normal circumstances, if you're a median household income, um, and you have a retirement plan through your company with a 401k and maybe that 401k does not offer Roth within it. I don't know many 401ks that don't at this point. Most 401ks have been converted

• 14:59Speaker 03

  to where they now offer Roth 401ks internally, but some don't. So if you don't have that Ability within your 401k and you're capable of saving some money in a Roth, by all means, please go ahead and do it, you know, because that is, you know, if you're 47, essentially you're not going to retire for another 20 years. 67 is your full retirement age for social security and everything else. So essentially you're going to work for at least 18, maybe 20 more years. That's 20 years of compound growth on those investments tax free. Right? So if, if you're willing to pay the taxes today at your current tax rate and you're going to let that money grow for the next 20 years and compound

• 15:41Speaker 03

  and continue to contribute to that, you can have a pretty sizable nest egg in tax free

• 15:48Speaker 03

  assets when you retire.

• 15:50Speaker 04

  So

• 15:50Speaker 03

  In addition to what you have in your 401k.

• 15:52Speaker 04

  So what if, okay, if you do have that Roth option within your company sponsored retirement plan, should you also consider an outside Roth IRA outside like not associated with the 401k?

• 16:05Speaker 03

  Right. I mean, you can, there's always

• 16:08Speaker 04

  Is that redundant?

• 16:09Speaker 03

  I don't think it necessarily winds up being redundant in the fact that, you know, more Roth funds or, you know, again, with a Roth 401k, there's no, there's no income limit that like creates a threshold where, hey, I made too much money. I can't contribute to a Roth. It doesn't, that, that happens for a Roth IRA, but a Roth 401k does not have that same rule. So if you're in a position where you make too much money to out and out contribute to a Roth IRA and you have a Roth option in your 401k and you have a lot of time to be able to let that money grow, by all means, I would use that.

• 16:47Speaker 04

  Is it common for people to split that within a 401k?

• 16:51Speaker 03

  Very common. So here's,

• 16:53Speaker 04

  I think at one point I was doing that and

• 16:57Speaker 03

  You may, maybe you're still doing it. I don't know, but either way,

• 17:00Speaker 04

  I should know this.

• 17:00Speaker 03

  You should know these things. As your financial advisor, I should know this too. But I would say that,

• 17:08Speaker 03

  Yes, it's very common. So let's say somebody's putting in 8% of their pay into their 401k and say they're getting a 4% match from their company, which is fairly standard, right? So if all of that is pre-tax, right, then you're technically putting in 12% of your pay because you're getting that 4% match and it's all pre-tax. Well, if you want to split it and do 6% each, then I would say, okay, well, I'm going to do 2% pre-tax, you know, break it up where you're doing 6% Roth and then the match that's coming into you is tax-free as well or tax, uh, tax, pre-tax. So you can have it split to where you're looking at, hey, I'm putting basically 6% of my pay

• 17:52Speaker 03

  pre-tax and I'm doing 6% of my pay in a Roth. Now I let that roll and now I've got half of my funds, or at least the new contributions, half of my new contributions are going into a Roth and half of my contributions are going into the pre-tax. Gives you pretty good flexibility when you retire as to where you want to take those funds from. Do I want to take it from the tax-free side? Do I want to take it from the taxable side? And that's where your financial planner comes in to kind of determine what's the best option for you at that point. But if you're in your mid-40s and you still have 20 years to let this grow, I'm a very big proponent of, you know, within, within reason, utilizing that Roth as much as possible.

• 18:34Speaker 04

  And what is the income cutoff for a traditional, or not a traditional, a Roth IRA outside of a 401k?

• 18:41Speaker 03

  Oh, they, I, I'd have to look at what it was for, I know in 2025, I think it was like 185, married filing jointly.

• 18:50Speaker 04

  Yep, not close. Okay, good to know. I'm good.

• 18:54Speaker 03

  Uh, single, I think it was like 95 was the start of the threshold, right? So then it kind of like, you know, from there, I'll look it up. I, in fact, I'll, we can come back from the break and I can tell you exactly what that is. But for the most part, you know, if you're in that, Married filing jointly 180 to 200 range, you're probably getting close to not being able to utilize the Roth. But in the 401k, there's no, there's no issue. You can continue using it there if you have a Roth option. So, great questions. What we're going to do is we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, Brian Miller from the CTEC and ROC, we'll be right back.

• 19:29Speaker 00

  Need to get your financial fix on the go? If so, subscribe to the Money Wise Podcast and catch up on all past shows.

• 19:41Speaker 03

  Welcome back.

• 19:44Speaker 04

  Justin, do you know who this is?

• 19:48Speaker 03

  No.

• 19:48Speaker 04

  It's a trick question.

• 19:49Speaker 03

  It is a trick question.

• 19:50Speaker 04

  You won't. But, okay, so it's got kind of a late 80s, early 90s.

• 19:54Speaker 03

  Yeah, vibe, yeah.

• 19:54Speaker 04

  Bobby Brown-ish vibe, yeah. Thing going. This is actually a Bakersfield artist.

• 19:59Speaker 03

  Really?

• 20:00Speaker 04

  Junior Mesa.

• 20:01Speaker 03

  So you did say it was a trick question. I was gonna say, like it was Bell Biv DeVoe or something like that.

• 20:06Speaker 04

  I'm like really on to this guy. It's a young guy who's from Bakersfield. I think he's currently living and working out of LA.

• 20:14Speaker 03

  Oh, okay.

• 20:15Speaker 04

  But I heard this, this song on an LA station that I listen to regularly, and they gave Bakersfield a shout out. It stopped me in my tracks.

• 20:22Speaker 03

  You're like, wait, what? They said something nice about us?

• 20:24Speaker 04

  Oh, there's a lot. There are nice things out there. Yeah, Junior Mesa.

• 20:30Speaker 00

  Nice pull though, because I was thinking Bell Biv DeVoe as well.

• 20:33Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 20:34Speaker 03

  See, you feel me?

• 20:36Speaker 04

  BBD.

• 20:36Speaker 03

  You feeling me?

• 20:37Speaker 00

  ABC.

• 20:39Speaker 03

  Okay, so I looked it up. For 2026 Roth IRAs, the income phase out ranges have increased substantially. So it allows for some higher earners to start contributing. So for a single individual, the phase out range starts at 153. So if you're single, making 150,000, you can still contribute to a Roth.

• 21:00Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 21:00Speaker 03

  Okay, so there's not, there's no issues there. If you're making more than 153.

• 21:04Speaker 04

  For a single.

• 21:05Speaker 03

  Yeah. For married filing jointly, it's 242. So if you're, if you're married or filing jointly and your combined marital income is 240 or more, that's when the phase outs for the Roth IRA start. Doesn't mean you can't contribute to it, but you start losing the benefit. The phase out completely ends at 252. So for singles, it's 168. So but either way, like if you're making like 160, 180,000 dollars as a single individual, you want to talk to your tax planner first before you start contributing to a Roth, because there could be some phase out issues. And we don't want you being penalized. So there's that. Anyhow, back at it.

• 21:48Speaker 04

  Brian Miller.

• 21:49Speaker 03

  Brian Miller.

• 21:50Speaker 04

  In the ho.

• 21:50Speaker 03

  Howdy.

• 21:51Speaker 05

  Good to be here.

• 21:53Speaker 03

  How'd you like that Belle Biv DeVoe? Was that good?

• 21:56Speaker 05

  I learned something new today. Had no idea who that was.

• 22:00Speaker 04

  Junior Mesa. Maybe, maybe this gentleman was a CTEC or ROC student.

• 22:06Speaker 05

  Could have been.

• 22:06Speaker 03

  Could have very well have been.

• 22:07Speaker 05

  Could have been.

• 22:08Speaker 04

  How many students are you guys touching these days?

• 22:12Speaker 05

  We've got 2,600 students is about our enrollment at both the sites there. Yeah. So

• 22:18Speaker 03

  It's like the

• 22:18Speaker 05

  It's pretty fantastic.

• 22:19Speaker 03

  Pretty much like the largest high school in the county with that size, right?

• 22:23Speaker 05

  Yeah, that rivals, well, that rivals our big high school, like BHS.

• 22:27Speaker 03

  BHS.

• 22:27Speaker 05

  Probably 2,800, Arvin, those two. But yeah, most, most of our schools are about 2,200 students.

• 22:32Speaker 03

  Yeah. So you're, you're bigger than pretty much all of those.

• 22:35Speaker 05

  Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it's, yeah. And it needs to be bigger because we got a lot that won in. So.

• 22:40Speaker 03

  That's the thing is like, every time I talk to you, you're like, yeah, our waiting list keeps getting longer.

• 22:44Speaker 05

  It does. We're trending at 11% growth in applications over this point last year. So.

• 22:50Speaker 03

  Oh my, how many applications do you typically get in a year for 2,600 slots?

• 22:54Speaker 05

  Last, last year, we were right about 6,600. And so we, we could hit 7,000 this year.

• 23:01Speaker 03

  So it's like a 30% you know, acceptance rate?

• 23:05Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 23:07Speaker 03

  That's

• 23:07Speaker 05

  Yeah. Yeah.

• 23:08Speaker 03

  You're, you're rivaling some colleges at that point.

• 23:11Speaker 05

  Yeah. It's, it's, yeah. It's become pretty cool to hear some of the stories because we send them a letter, you know?

• 23:16Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 23:17Speaker 05

  Get these letters and

• 23:18Speaker 03

  They're on Tik Tok and they're like

• 23:20Speaker 05

  Yeah. Yeah.

• 23:21Speaker 03

  Yeah. It's an acceptance letter.

• 23:22Speaker 05

  Awesome. Yeah.

• 23:23Speaker 03

  I'm going to CTEC.

• 23:24Speaker 05

  It's become a thing for sure.

• 23:25Speaker 04

  So these are like, I don't like to use the word elite, but some very bright students, juniors and seniors across the Kern High School District.

• 23:35Speaker 05

  Absolutely. I mean, these are kids that have a real Interest in what they're learning and kind of that career path. And that's what I love about what we do. I mean, it doesn't have to be a kid that's been successful all through school. It just has to be a kid that really has an interest, has some work ethic. Um, that really has a passion to learn about a certain career. And you put them in this environment from kids all over the community, a teacher that's passionate about that.

• 23:58Speaker 03

  Right.

• 23:58Speaker 05

  And that's where the magic happens.

• 24:00Speaker 03

  Well, and it's, and it's all hands on learning. I mean, that's the thing about it. It's not this like, you know, academic, not to say that academics is bad, like that's, it's not like this high minded, like sitting there, reading a book.

• 24:13Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 24:13Speaker 03

  Taking a test, it's tactile. I'm learning this trade right now in front of me.

• 24:19Speaker 05

  It's, it's very easy for them to see how what they're learning is relevant to their own personal lives and, and what their futures are.

• 24:25Speaker 03

  Right.

• 24:26Speaker 05

  They're applying every day what they're learning.

• 24:28Speaker 03

  Right. Which is amazing. And like many people, that's the best way to learn. Some people are better learning, doing it a different way, but the whole point of this program is to teach people where they're at.

• 24:40Speaker 05

  Exactly.

• 24:41Speaker 03

  Right.

• 24:41Speaker 05

  Exactly.

• 24:42Speaker 04

  So if somebody is listening and learning about these programs for the first time, can you give us just a quick rundown of what the difference is between the two campuses? Um, and how can somebody get involved?

• 24:56Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 24:56Speaker 04

  Or get their kid involved?

• 24:57Speaker 05

  Absolutely. So really the only difference is the programs offered at each one. Uh, we're two, two campuses work as one school, um, exact same model. Um, and so, yeah, if you want to, if you want to take a class in culinary or cosmetology or, um, small business or.

• 25:12Speaker 03

  Fire services.

• 25:14Speaker 05

  Uh, shops, classes like the trades.

• 25:16Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 25:16Speaker 05

  You're going to be at the ROC campus. You want to do medical, something in the medical field or arts media or IT, um, robotics, fire, you're going to be at the CTEC campus. So, um, yeah, we've got, that's one of the cool things I love. We serve kids from all over the community of both of those schools. Um, so yeah, juniors and seniors only. It's half their school day. So it's about three, three periods on their schedule. And so they spend half a day with us. So they spend half a day at their homeschool.

• 25:41Speaker 03

  Whether morning or afternoon.

• 25:42Speaker 05

  Morning, afternoon or night.

• 25:43Speaker 04

  Nighttime, you have night programming.

• 25:45Speaker 03

  Right.

• 25:45Speaker 05

  Um, and so, yeah, so there's, it's really. Really something for everyone. Thirty eight different programs to choose from. And I think all of them do an exceptional job of giving kids some deep career exploration and kind of leg up on that next step in their

• 25:59Speaker 03

  Absolutely.

• 25:59Speaker 05

  Where they're going.

• 26:00Speaker 04

  And you guys partner closely with local companies. You help with job placement, internships. We at Money Wise, I think we are onboarding another intern from CTEC if I heard correctly.

• 26:13Speaker 03

  Possibly, yes. Yes, I believe so.

• 26:15Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 26:15Speaker 05

  Yeah. Yes. So yeah, that and that's going on right now. So that's our community classroom program. That's our unpaid internship program. That happens second semester for about forty percent of those students in this year. We've got over three hundred business partners with formal agreements with the district.

• 26:31Speaker 03

  That's amazing.

• 26:32Speaker 05

  Eight hundred fifty plus students doing that. Yeah, the scale is pretty, pretty awesome.

• 26:36Speaker 03

  That's unbelievable. It's like you'd think, okay, the internship, okay, we have partnerships with like thirty, thirty, forty companies. Three hundred.

• 26:43Speaker 05

  That's what

• 26:43Speaker 03

  Small, medium and large businesses here in our community that are taking in

• 26:46Speaker 05

  Yes.

• 26:47Speaker 03

  Interns.

• 26:48Speaker 05

  That's what I love. The partnerships are amazing and that's what makes it all work. That's It's not just one, the high school district doing it. It's a community effort.

• 26:55Speaker 03

  Yeah, teamwork makes the dream work, right?

• 26:57Speaker 05

  Absolutely.

• 26:58Speaker 03

  We're gonna, we're gonna take a quick break. I want to tease it again. We got a, a, a big announcement coming, I guess, from, from Brian Miller from CTEC and ROC when we come back.

• 27:07Speaker 00

  If you're a business owner who provides a retirement plan for your employees, contact Money Wise Wealth Management to see if you're maximizing your options and minimizing your liabilities. Money Wise 401k plans are customized to you and your company's needs. Six six one eight four seven one thousand.

• 27:38Speaker 03

  Welcome back.

• 27:43Speaker 03

  I totally had to twist Steven's arm to play that.

• 27:45Speaker 04

  Who is that?

• 27:46Speaker 03

  That's Ace of Spades from Motorhead.

• 27:48Speaker 04

  Motorhead.

• 27:49Speaker 03

  Lemmy.

• 27:51Speaker 00

  Rest in peace.

• 27:51Speaker 03

  Rest in peace. Long, long live Lemmy.

• 27:56Speaker 03

  Thanks, Steven.

• 27:57Speaker 00

  I'll play Motorhead anytime.

• 27:59Speaker 03

  Yeah, I totally had to twist your arm for that one. You're like, yep, got it.

• 28:02Speaker 00

  Got it.

• 28:04Speaker 03

  I'm on it. Okay. All right. So we teased a couple of times on the show. A big, huge, massive announcement coming from C-Tech.

• 28:14Speaker 04

  You may have oversold it a little bit.

• 28:19Speaker 05

  He did.

• 28:20Speaker 03

  It's my job. It's my job. I'm supposed to pump everybody up and there's a big, big announcement.

• 28:24Speaker 04

  It's radio.

• 28:25Speaker 03

  It's radio voice. So Brian, we got a, an event coming up. Seth is, from our office, is going to be coming down to C-Tech and do you want to talk about that?

• 28:37Speaker 05

  Yeah, absolutely. We are super excited to partner with Money Wise and Safe One. Put on first ever Family Finance Night at C-Tech. And it really, the, the, the point is to bring in parents with their teenagers. To educate them about some basic financial literacy principles that are going to help them get off to their financial success in their adult lives.

• 29:03Speaker 03

  Which is one of the things that

• 29:04Speaker 05

  Win-win.

• 29:05Speaker 03

  It's a win-win all the way around. We're very happy to do it. I know Seth is, he's a former educator as well.

• 29:12Speaker 04

  Seth is like Tony Robbins. Like he has a personality. He's good on the stage.

• 29:18Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 29:19Speaker 04

  And he will get those kids pumped.

• 29:22Speaker 03

  Yes, he will. And it's, you know, one of the good things about it being that Seth is a former educator. You know, he knows, he knows how to

• 29:29Speaker 05

  He does.

• 29:30Speaker 03

  He knows how to talk to teenagers.

• 29:31Speaker 05

  He knows how to work with the high school kids. Get them going.

• 29:34Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 29:35Speaker 04

  The cool thing about this collaboration, we, we did one similar to this last year at the Bakersfield Racket Club and it was a public event. And the adults, it's not just parents, guardians, any sort of adult with teenager that they love in their life. Whether, you know, you could be a mentor to somebody.

• 29:55Speaker 03

  Right, yeah.

• 29:56Speaker 04

  The adults in the room. Came up to us after the event and thanked us because they actually were learning fundamentals. That they were almost embarrassed that they didn't know, but it's, it is very appropriate for both adults and teenagers. We're saying ages 14 to 19. Just for maturity reasons.

• 30:19Speaker 03

  Right. Well, and you know, we, we have to buy double the pizza for 14 to 16.

• 30:24Speaker 04

  There's no pizza unless Michael George is listening.

• 30:27Speaker 03

  Right. Exactly. Get the pizza sponsor in there.

• 30:31Speaker 04

  Mike, if you're out there, you know.

• 30:34Speaker 03

  But yes, having watched this event when we did a similar event, this is not the same event, but very, very similar kind of conversation. It is very important. It's one of the things that up until recently, and we'll talk about this here in just a moment. Up until recently is a, a part of the education module that is just not very well talked about. I don't know how many times I've heard a parent or I wish I would have started early and man, I wish I would have been able to tell my kids about how to save money or how to do this. Or what a bank is or what a credit card is or what debt is and all these other things. And that's not something that's being taught. Up until now, what bill was that that was just put into?

• 31:16Speaker 03

  What was just signed into law here in California?

• 31:18Speaker 04

  Well, don't ask me what the actual bill is called, but it is a mandate coming down the pipeline. And Brian can speak more about the technicality of that, but it rolls out in the 2027 school year.

• 31:30Speaker 05

  Yeah. So, starting with that freshman class of the 27, 28 school year, you have to have in California now a graduation requirement of a semester long financial literacy course. And there's 13 key concepts that have to be covered in that course.

• 31:46Speaker 03

  Right.

• 31:47Speaker 05

  Which is fantastic. It's been the missing link in an educational experience for a high school student for.

• 31:52Speaker 03

  Forever.

• 31:52Speaker 05

  Forever.

• 31:53Speaker 03

  Right.

• 31:53Speaker 05

  Why, why we've never done that in California? I don't know, but I'm glad we're doing it now.

• 31:57Speaker 03

  Well, didn't they do that? It was kind of like quasi home ec, but that was not really, it was how to bake bread.

• 32:02Speaker 05

  This is every single student will have.

• 32:04Speaker 03

  Right, every student.

• 32:05Speaker 04

  I have the list of the 13. I can just pop out a couple. So there's charitable giving on here. Um, enhancing consumer protection skills.

• 32:15Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 32:15Speaker 04

  So raising awareness about scams and frauds. Um, impacts of the tax system, uh, credit, managing your credit score and debt.

• 32:25Speaker 03

  Nice.

• 32:25Speaker 04

  Um, for, there's 401K pension plans are on here. I mean, this is.

• 32:30Speaker 05

  Principles of budgeting for independent living is what I like, cause I've got two kids that I want them to be independent living and have good budgeting principles.

• 32:40Speaker 03

  Yeah, the, the bank of dad is still open on my end and I wish that this was one of those things that was taught.

• 32:45Speaker 05

  Wide open.

• 32:47Speaker 03

  That bank of dad, it is open for business.

• 32:50Speaker 04

  Wait, so the great thing about it, and I have tremendous respect for them trying to implement this in the schools, but then also the event that we are doing and many other people offer all over the country. It, and the response that we got from the adults at our previous event that we did similar to this was thank you for offering this because I tried to talk to the teen in my life or my teenagers and they don't want to hear it from mom and dad or whoever that guardian is.

• 33:21Speaker 03

  In their life, yeah.

• 33:22Speaker 04

  It helps coming from somebody outside of the family.

• 33:27Speaker 03

  Whether it's a professional or a non-professional, it doesn't like just that guidance and mentorship that is missing.

• 33:34Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 33:34Speaker 03

  You know?

• 33:35Speaker 04

  So we will be covering things like banking, fundamentals, budgeting for real life.

• 33:43Speaker 04

  Credit basics, saving and investing. It's about an hour long presentation with a Q and A at the end.

• 33:51Speaker 03

  Yeah, March 12th, 6 o'clock at CTEC. We'll be pushing that out to all of our students and their parents next week and the week after. And then, you know, Money Wise and Safe One, I'm sure will be sharing that as well.

• 34:04Speaker 04

  We will, and it is, it is, we're opening it up to the public too. So if, if you are interested and you would like to bring a teenager in your life, you can reach out to the Money Wise Show and we can connect you with the appropriate registration protocol or happy to answer any questions.

• 34:23Speaker 03

  Yeah, right. And the, the event is actually going to be held on March 12th.

• 34:27Speaker 04

  Thursday, March 12th.

• 34:28Speaker 03

  Thursday, March 12th, from 6 to 7:30 at the CTEC campus, 7301 Old River, right next to Independence High. Yeah, it's going to be a great event and Seth does a fantastic job of.

• 34:44Speaker 04

  You will not be, you will not be bored. If you showed up, if you show up, you will not fall asleep in this presentation, one way or another.

• 34:51Speaker 03

  Yeah, no, he, he will keep you well, well abreast of what's going on and keep, keep you, keep you engaged. Definitely, definitely going to do that. So, yeah, no, it's been fantastic. What else is going on right now? I saw a bunch of kids up at the Woolworths counter yesterday, dressed to the nines.

• 35:09Speaker 05

  Those are virtual enterprise students. So we just wrapped up, finished yesterday afternoon. We were down at the convention center for the last two days. Kern High hosts the virtual enterprise state business plan and trade show competition. So the ROC and CTEC staff kind of put that on. Virtual enterprise is a business program that's founded, we offer it in about, I think 12 of our high schools, but it's offered nationally.

• 35:35Speaker 03

  Right.

• 35:36Speaker 05

  And these are, it's, it's a great program. So kids get in the class, they put together a virtual business throughout the year. There's a whole banking system that's virtual.

• 35:43Speaker 03

  They sell their product or whatever it is, they come up with their business plan. And remind me, but yes, it is a national program and the winner from our competition goes to New York, I believe, and they do a big national thing. How many times has Bakersfield? Finished in the top three, would you say, nationwide?

• 36:06Speaker 05

  Well, actually, yeah, we, three years ago.

• 36:09Speaker 03

  We won the whole thing.

• 36:10Speaker 05

  We won first, second, and third at a national level. It was pretty, first time ever.

• 36:14Speaker 03

  Swept the event.

• 36:15Speaker 05

  Swept the national, yeah, it was awesome.

• 36:17Speaker 03

  Right.

• 36:18Speaker 05

  So fantastic. And then, yeah, actually, yesterday, we, the top eight teams in the business plan competition at the state level get to qualify for the national competition. And we had five of the eight spots where Kern High School District teams were the top three, being first place Centennial, second place BHS, and third place Ridgeview. So first, second, and third at a state level.

• 36:44Speaker 03

  Oh, my goodness.

• 36:45Speaker 05

  Pretty incredible as well.

• 36:46Speaker 03

  Yeah, so it's a very good chance that one of those schools is coming back with the, with the gold.

• 36:51Speaker 05

  Fant, yes, they are top notch.

• 36:53Speaker 04

  Do you ever shed a tear? Like, of joy? And just being proud?

• 36:57Speaker 05

  Very proud, very proud yesterday as we were standing up there, listening to the award. Because they always ask, do you want to know it? No, I don't want to know.

• 37:04Speaker 03

  I don't, I don't know anything until it comes out, yeah.

• 37:06Speaker 05

  So as soon as I realized, oh, we're going to get first, second, and third. That's pretty awesome. And it's, you know, people always ask, what's the secret sauce? Why are you guys so good? Well, we've got an amazing community.

• 37:17Speaker 03

  Right.

• 37:18Speaker 05

  That we do, we bring in advisors all throughout the school year to work with these kids. And, and our teachers are incredible. And you got these kids that are willing to put in the work. And when you put those three things together, good stuff's going to happen.

• 37:29Speaker 04

  Maybe the pesticides in the air, we're wired differently.

• 37:33Speaker 05

  Wow, Debbie.

• 37:34Speaker 03

  Wow.

• 37:34Speaker 05

  Trying to be positive here. Trying to sell Bakersfield.

• 37:39Speaker 04

  I do say, we are, we are, there's something unique about us.

• 37:43Speaker 05

  Yes, okay.

• 37:45Speaker 03

  But, you know, but the thing is, like, here's the thing I always kind of look at is that success begets more success.

• 37:51Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 37:51Speaker 03

  Right? So when you win a couple of those events.

• 37:55Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 37:55Speaker 03

  Like, it almost, like, you don't want to let down the, the prior winners by us, like, laying an egg.

• 38:03Speaker 05

  Yes, it has become an expectation.

• 38:05Speaker 03

  Yeah, like, Bakersfield is expected to be on the podium in New York.

• 38:09Speaker 05

  Yes.

• 38:10Speaker 03

  Like, somebody.

• 38:11Speaker 05

  Yes.

• 38:11Speaker 03

  Whether it's Stockdale or Ridgeview or BHS or some.

• 38:14Speaker 05

  Yes.

• 38:14Speaker 03

  We're expected to be at least placing in New York on a national level.

• 38:19Speaker 05

  Yes.

• 38:20Speaker 03

  And that's pretty much normal now. So, yeah, let's make sure none of our kids are laying an egg out there.

• 38:26Speaker 05

  Yep. Well said.

• 38:28Speaker 03

  No eggs. No eggs. All right. Thank you very much, Brian, for joining us today. It's been amazing. Love what's going on over at CTEC and ROC. You're doing a fantastic job, bang up job out there, and love to see the enthusiasm in our community to continue this and grow it, really.

• 38:46Speaker 04

  I also want to give a shout out to my friend, Mr. Justin Casey, out at the ROC Cafe and Bakery.

• 38:53Speaker 05

  Yes, okay, I got one more update.

• 38:55Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 38:55Speaker 05

  I ate lunch there today.

• 38:57Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 38:58Speaker 05

  So they started last Friday. Now they're doing Friday specials. It's something different every Friday. Last Friday, I had a New York strip steak.

• 39:05Speaker 04

  Whoa.

• 39:05Speaker 05

  Awesome.

• 39:06Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 39:07Speaker 04

  Wow.

• 39:07Speaker 05

  Today, pork chop for lunch. I mean, I gotta stop going on Fridays. I'm eating a pork chop for lunch.

• 39:14Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 39:14Speaker 05

  It was incredible.

• 39:16Speaker 04

  They are doing-

• 39:17Speaker 05

  Incredible. They're killing it this year. Best year ever for the cafe. They've really figured out some things and

• 39:22Speaker 03

  Dialed in.

• 39:22Speaker 05

  The service is amazing and the food's always been great.

• 39:25Speaker 04

  The food is fantastic.

• 39:27Speaker 03

  It really is.

• 39:27Speaker 05

  It's just, it's such a fun place to go.

• 39:29Speaker 03

  And it's super affordable.

• 39:30Speaker 05

  Super affordable.

• 39:31Speaker 04

  That's still in town.

• 39:33Speaker 05

  I got a $14 pork chop today.

• 39:35Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 39:36Speaker 05

  Amazing.

• 39:36Speaker 04

  And it is, I mean, it is like-

• 39:38Speaker 05

  It was huge.

• 39:39Speaker 04

  High-end restaurant quality.

• 39:41Speaker 05

  Oh, yeah.

• 39:41Speaker 04

  They're working on the plating, the creative side of it. The quality is excellent. Those kids-

• 39:46Speaker 03

  The service is great.

• 39:47Speaker 04

  Are learning how to be hospitality professionals.

• 39:50Speaker 05

  Yes, yes.

• 39:51Speaker 04

  I love it.

• 39:51Speaker 05

  Didn't you have the beet salad?

• 39:53Speaker 04

  I had the beet salad. We shared the, there was a shrimp dish that was lovely.

• 39:58Speaker 05

  Yes.

• 39:58Speaker 04

  Oh, I can't say enough about-

• 40:00Speaker 03

  They're doing a great job out there.

• 40:01Speaker 05

  Good stuff.

• 40:01Speaker 03

  It's really good.

• 40:02Speaker 05

  Yep, thank you.

• 40:03Speaker 03

  Well, thank you so much for joining us today. We're gonna take a quick break. We'll be right back.

• 40:07Speaker 00

  Have you been putting off your finances? Seize the day. Call the Money Wise office at 661-847-1000, or email [email protected] for more information.

• 40:29Speaker 03

  Welcome back.

• 40:31Speaker 04

  Beeps. It's the Bieber. He gave the best performance during the Grammys last weekend.

• 40:38Speaker 03

  In his boxers?

• 40:38Speaker 04

  In his silky chonies.

• 40:42Speaker 03

  In his Crocs and boxers?

• 40:44Speaker 04

  No Crocs, just socks.

• 40:45Speaker 03

  Just socks?

• 40:46Speaker 04

  He was so good. I'm a late in life believer.

• 40:50Speaker 03

  Never have gotten there.

• 40:52Speaker 04

  He's very talented.

• 40:53Speaker 03

  I would say yes, I would say talented. I just, I've never gotten to that.

• 40:57Speaker 04

  I'll help you. I will show you the way.

• 41:01Speaker 03

  Thank you, Obi-Wan.

• 41:05Speaker 04

  Hey, we, I love this comment or question after regarding our conversation with Brian Miller.

• 41:11Speaker 03

  Which, thank you very much for being here.

• 41:13Speaker 04

  Brian's great. We have a listener that's asking, where is this $14 pork chop? Well, friend, it's out at the ROC Cafe and Bakery on their campus. And they have a wonderful facility off of South Mount Vernon.

• 41:28Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 41:29Speaker 04

  Way out there on the east side, but it is worth the drive.

• 41:32Speaker 03

  Yeah, Mount Vernon and East Brundage would be your, your cross streets, basically. Head south on Mount Vernon, hang a quick left and you're at the cafe.

• 41:42Speaker 04

  They have limited hours. They only do lunch service during the school week.

• 41:47Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 41:48Speaker 04

  So check their website, ROC.Curnhy.org and you should be able to track down the hours that they are open.

• 41:55Speaker 03

  Yeah, but hey, if he, he said, what, he got a New York, New York steak the other day?

• 42:00Speaker 04

  They've got burgers, sandwiches, salads.

• 42:04Speaker 03

  But yeah, they're definitely very, very good. The ROC does a fantastic job with their culinary program. Speaking of other, speaking of consumables, we got a 90, 92-year-old country rock, country music legend selling his own version

• 42:25Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 42:26Speaker 03

  of a Willie's Remedy Plus.

• 42:31Speaker 03

  Is a THC infused drink. Now, I don't know what everybody feels about that. It's, it's, you know, kind of a controversial thing for some people, but.

• 42:46Speaker 04

  I feel like that's going, the stigma is disappearing. Alcohol use is dropping drastically.

• 42:52Speaker 03

  I will say that the, the, the drinking culture of the binge drinking culture is no longer really the prevalent culture.

• 43:01Speaker 04

  Thank goodness.

• 43:01Speaker 03

  Right.

• 43:02Speaker 04

  Nobody benefited from that other than the companies.

• 43:05Speaker 03

  The bar itself.

• 43:07Speaker 04

  But health wise.

• 43:08Speaker 03

  Yeah, it's, it's not a healthy thing to binge drink, you know, three days a week or twice a week or whatever. And so, you know, um, alcohol is, you know, even wine sellers, they're, I mean, wine is down 50% from previous years. Beer is not selling as much as it was, um, you know.

• 43:29Speaker 00

  Is it really going by these crazy numbers that were going on during COVID?

• 43:36Speaker 03

  You know, it's, it's interesting because pre-COVID, uh, I think we're even below what the pre-COVID levels were for alcohol consumption, right?

• 43:47Speaker 04

  That's a good question, Stephen. You stumped me for a moment.

• 43:50Speaker 03

  Like I'd have to look it up, but I'm, I, you know, I, I remember looking at some statistics where, you know, the, the alcohol consumption, you know, in the, the late teens, you know, um, was high and we still have not, we've come down below those numbers, right? The alcohol consumption during COVID, let's face it, you know, we all needed a stiff drink every once in a while, um, working at home, it was like, uh, yeah, uh, pour me one of those, I have to teach my kids algebra. So, um, you know, it was difficult.

• 44:24Speaker 00

  It's good to hear that the numbers are down either way.

• 44:27Speaker 03

  But here we have, uh, our good friend Willie Nelson, who, um, yeah, selling, basically created a, a brand of a THC infused beverage called Willie's Remedy. And if you don't know Willie Nelson and the fact that he's very THC friendly, uh, what rock are you crawling out from under? His. Business at this point is running at about $80 million run rate, according to the company. So they're, they're creating a lot of buzz.

• 45:00Speaker 04

  And it happened quickly.

• 45:01Speaker 03

  That yeah, almost overnight.

• 45:04Speaker 04

  The whole point of bringing up this article is like this business just like exploded even, I mean, blew out their even most optimistic projections.

• 45:14Speaker 03

  Right. And so when you look at it, like there's other THC drinks that are on them. There's a lot of them that are being created, but many of those are marketed to younger individuals or, you know, the 20, the 2030 something. Yeah. You know, as an alternative to alcohol or whatever, the, these THC infused drinks. And, but Willie has figured it out. I think this company's figured it out. It's like our, our clientele are older, retired, have money. And they immediately started selling crazy amounts, a lot more than a $14 pork chop. They were selling quite a bit.

• 45:56Speaker 04

  Fascinating.

• 45:57Speaker 03

  It is fascinating and you know, good for Willie. I mean, you know, 92 years old and still, still doing it, right?

• 46:06Speaker 03

  Got to say, I mean, got to give them some credit, you know, uh, interesting, interesting business model. But it is good to see that the alcohol consumption is down.

• 46:16Speaker 00

  Get that with a pork chop?

• 46:19Speaker 00

  You're just sending us off to the weekend perfectly, huh?

• 46:21Speaker 03

  The, the problem is drinking the THC infused drink. You probably might have three or four pork chops is probably the problem. You'd get the munchies and you know, that's my problem.

• 46:32Speaker 04

  Yeah, that sounds like a personal problem.

• 46:34Speaker 03

  Yes. Hey, with that, you know, be smart, be safe, be money wise. Have a wonderful weekend. We're going to be bringing you into the weekend. It's going to be a fantastic, weather is going to be gorgeous. Get outside, get some fresh air, be smart, be safe, be money wise. See you next week.

• 46:53Speaker 02

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