3/23/26 New Vision for BMoA, Plus Tipping Culture & Flight Prices

The Moneywise Radio Show and Podcast Monday, March 23rd 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: Gilbert Vicario, Executive Director and Chief Curator at the Bakersfield Museum of Art website: https://www.bmoa.org/ facebook instagram 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. Gilbert Vicario and The Bakersfield Museum of Art 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.

• 0:37Speaker 00

  Now, let's start the Money Wise Show.

• 0:41Speaker 02

  And welcome to the Money Wise Show. We are live from the basement of the historic Woolworths Building in downtown Bakersfield. For the next hour, you are on KGO Money Talk, 1230 a.m., 101.1 FM, and always streaming at MoneyWiseGuys.com. You can call or text into the show 24 hours a day at 661-396-1000. We are your hosts. I'm Sharad Waite and...

• 1:04Speaker 03

  I'm Emily Waite.

• 1:05Speaker 02

  Great to see you, Em.

• 1:06Speaker 03

  First time in the studio in the basement.

• 1:09Speaker 02

  Really? It's your first time here doing the show here?

• 1:12Speaker 03

  Yes, I've been kind of busy, but I'm so glad to be in the studio doing this again with you.

• 1:17Speaker 02

  It's a perfect show to have you on. We're going to do something a little different today, and we're going to start the show out with our interview and our guest, Gilbert Vicario. He is the Executive Director and Chief Curator for the Bakersfield Museum of Art. Welcome to the show, Gilbert.

• 1:31Speaker 04

  Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.

• 1:33Speaker 02

  Great having you here. We've been big supporters of the arts in Bakersfield and of the Bakersfield Museum of Art for many, many years. It's something that, at least at Money Wise, the position, we take, we take a few positions, you know, here in town. One of them is that the, every good town needs a good art scene, and without that, there's sort of this domino effect that impacts all other industries, including finance and education and...

• 2:08Speaker 03

  Culture and commerce have to go together.

• 2:11Speaker 02

  They have to. And so there really is a return on our dollars for money that goes into a community to support the arts. And the Bakersfield Museum of Art, a lot of people don't know, is our only accredited museum, art museum, in the county.

• 2:29Speaker 02

  Right?

• 2:29Speaker 04

  Yes, it is. And I wanted to say I agree with what you just said about art and comics. Because I've seen, I've seen communities change over the years, whether it's Des Moines, Iowa, or Miami, Florida. What a lot of people don't realize is Bakersfield Museum of Art is the only fine art museum within 100 miles of, of, of another museum. So you've got, in Pasadena, you have museums. 100 miles, you're in Bakersfield. And then 100 miles after that is Fresno. So we have an, we have an audience of almost a million.

• 3:04Speaker 02

  Right.

• 3:04Speaker 04

  In the community. When you, when you take Bakersfield and Kern County, it's a population that's almost at a million. So it's really amazing.

• 3:12Speaker 02

  So maybe tell us a little bit about yourself. You're just recently have been made the Executive Director and Chief Curator. Where, where, where did you, where did you come from?

• 3:23Speaker 04

  Sure. I grew up, actually, I'm back in California. Never, I never dreamed that, that that would be the case. I was born and raised in San Diego, went to University of California, San Diego. And then went on this crazy journey. Graduate School in New York. And have worked in many institutions, beginning with the Philadelphia Museum of Art, ICA Boston, Des Moines Art Center.

• 3:50Speaker 04

  And most recently at Paris Art Museum in Miami. And I just, I think I was ready. I think by the time I got to, to Florida and, and the Paris, I kind of knew, like, you know, it's time, it's, it's time to, you know, step up and, and you need to run your own show. And, and so my, my stint in Miami was, was very brief. But Bakersfield was, everyone says, well, Bakers.

• 4:20Speaker 03

  I was gonna say. What, what was the decision to come here?

• 4:26Speaker 04

  He's not from here, so what is he doing in Bakersfield? I actually, I actually learned about Bakersfield Art Museum when I was attending a lecture in New York by the director of the National Gallery in Washington DC, Kaywin Feldman. And as it turned out, Kaywin's first job was at the Bakersfield Museum of Art. Really? And I thought to myself, yeah, I was like, wow, that's pretty interesting. I didn't realize that. Yeah, and so for that reason, Bakersfield, suddenly I was like, oh yeah, that's, that's the, that's the place you, you, you drive by at 90 miles an hour when you're going from San Diego to San Francisco.

• 5:07Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 5:08Speaker 04

  And, but, you know, once, once I got over that, again, getting back to the opportunities that, that just were so evident on literally the first day that I, that I came for the interview. I was, I was saying, I was staying at the Padre Hotel and looking out and I thought, you know, this place is ready. Okay. For a change. Okay. And you could see it. You could see in the businesses and Woolworths was just, you guys were just finishing. Right. They're putting the finishing touches on that.

• 5:39Speaker 02

  Maybe expand on that a little bit. What, what was it, you know, coming into Bakersfield, staying here, interviewing for the job where you said, well, yeah, like what tipped you off to the idea that there's opportunity?

• 5:52Speaker 04

  I think it was really the people. I think it was, I think it was the, the search committee, David Coffey, who's on our board, who's an architectural historian, also kind of gave me great, it gave me a sense that, that not only is there a community in Bakersfield, but there's a history that a lot of people don't know. And the opportunity of taking an institution that maybe isn't on everyone's radar, that really needs to connect with the rest of the world. To me, those are the, those are the challenges and those are the things that made me excited about coming to an institution like Bakersfield.

• 6:37Speaker 04

  Obviously, it's a, it's a community that's, I think, fifty-five percent Mexican-American.

• 6:42Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 6:43Speaker 04

  And so that I think, I think they saw that that was also important since my family, I'm first-generation Mexican-American. My parents were immigrated from Mexico. And so I think that was also helpful. And to try to sort of bridge my expertise and my interest across a lot of different communities and a lot of economic sort of playing fields, as it were.

• 7:09Speaker 02

  Yeah. So I'm, I'm curious what your impression also was of the museum itself. What, what kind of, what kind of things did you witness that the museum had going on that was impressive? Or was there anything?

• 7:23Speaker 04

  That's so, it's so funny you mention that because, you know, when I came to interview, it was like forty-eight hours.

• 7:29Speaker 03

  That's right.

• 7:30Speaker 04

  Very intense.

• 7:31Speaker 02

  Quick trip.

• 7:32Speaker 04

  And at the end of the first day, after, after the first five hours, I, I, I looked at the search committee and I said, "Well, am I gonna see the museum?" Like, wow. They're like, "It's actually, it's not open on Sunday, but let me see what, what we can do." And anyway, Sunday morning came along, I drove out there and literally my mouth fell open. And I thought, "Oh, my God, this place is great."

• 8:01Speaker 03

  Really?

• 8:02Speaker 04

  I walked around. I had no idea we had the garden.

• 8:06Speaker 03

  The garden, yeah, right.

• 8:07Speaker 04

  It, I think it's a really, it's a wonderful space. I think it's underutilized.

• 8:13Speaker 03

  Sure.

• 8:14Speaker 04

  And also the fact that, that they weren't open on Sundays. So that gave me something to think about. And so that was my first change. We're now open on Sundays. So that people can actually, who, who work during the week, like most of us, can actually come and enjoy the museum. And so I, I, again, to me, it looked like an opportunity. I mean, I've curated for over 20 years. My exhibitions have traveled, you know, all over the country. That's a no-brainer. And Bakersfield already had a, has a curator. So it wasn't as if it was deficient in that.

• 8:53Speaker 04

  But I think what I, what I saw in Bakersfield Museum of Art was a place that in some ways is an oasis, a place that people can come. It's part of who they are. And they can just, you know, breathe a sigh if that's all they, you know, if that's all they need.

• 9:14Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 9:15Speaker 04

  But it's, you know, art museums are spaces for people to just relax, meditate, maybe, however that can be. But really, just, again, a wonderful institution that I think needs to be more embraced by the community.

• 9:36Speaker 02

  Again, we're joined by Gilbert Vicario. He's Executive Director and Chief Curator for the Bakersfield Museum of Art. You're, you said you studied at UC San Diego. I'm assuming your degree was in art?

• 9:49Speaker 04

  So it was actually fine art, yeah. So UCSD, it's a very funny program. All of the professors were conceptual artists from New York who really didn't know how to, it wasn't the place if you wanted to learn how to paint. Or like actually, it didn't teach technique or craft, but it was all about the ideas. And so it was always about the ideas that went into making something. So it didn't matter if it looked horrible or whatever, as long as the idea was, was good. But it was also a great university in film. And so that's kind of one of my, my big passions is, is film.

• 10:31Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 10:32Speaker 04

  And so it was an opportunity for me to learn about the the language and vocabulary of filmmaking as well.

• 10:40Speaker 02

  Were you hoping that you would go into film? That's what you were.

• 10:44Speaker 04

  Such a great question. I, you know, I was really struggling because I knew that I would.

• 10:49Speaker 02

  Maybe I ask you scoot a little closer. Yeah, there you go.

• 10:52Speaker 04

  I knew that I could make it as an artist. So I thought, you know, I really have to figure out what I'm gonna do. Because I didn't really want, there was really nothing else that I was interested in. So film did cross my mind, going to LA and, you know, I think you can start out as, I think it was second assistant director or producer, where you basically just get coffee for people.

• 11:14Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 11:15Speaker 04

  But but the other kind of great thing that happened was that I started going to museums regularly while as an undergrad. And that's, it doesn't sound remarkable, but it's interesting how very few students actually do that. And that's when it really came together. And I thought, oh, wow, I didn't even know what a curator was. Maybe I could, you know, maybe that's something that I want to aspire to do. And it stuck with me. My first job out of undergrad was at a place called the Mexican Museum in San Francisco, Fort Mason Center. And it was at that time that I decided to pursue graduate studies in what was called curatorial studies, which was a new degree.

• 12:00Speaker 04

  And it was being offered by a school in in New York, Bard College. And so that was sort of the path that I took. And like, a lot of curators, museum directors go the path of the art history degree. And they wait and, you know, spend five years getting their PhDs. But this is sort of a another, another way of doing that.

• 12:20Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 12:21Speaker 04

  And so that led me to the PMA, the Philadelphia Museum of Art. And that's kind of where the whole idea of of the museum.

• 12:35Speaker 04

  Really as a, as a, as a public space in a way that, that, you know, in a way that the public spaces as we know them tend to be shopping malls or tend to be sort of commercially. I always thought that it would be sort of important to sort of continue to explore and understand the value that a cultural institution like a museum can have on the community.

• 13:02Speaker 02

  This is interesting to me because I know a lot of our, a lot of our listeners and people we know will talk about their kids going into art in, in, you know, high school or college and, and the concern that there won't be a way forward to make a living doing that, you know, the, the classic starving artist kind of scenario. But your story, it, it, it shows that there, there's lots of different pathways towards being in art, but not necessarily, it doesn't have to be, you know, just that one way where you're maybe just a painter or you're just a filmmaker, but there's, there's, there's other, other ways to be involved in art.

• 13:44Speaker 04

  Yeah, it's funny. I, I remember when I was at UCSD, there was a, a, a student who, she was actually an adult learner, I think that's what it's called, but she told me, you don't, you, you have no idea what career will be invented 10 years from now. You don't know what you're gonna, you know, what's, what, what the possibilities will be. And so that kind of gave me a little bit of pause and I thought, you know, I'm just gonna enjoy this moment and try to figure out the rest later.

• 14:22Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 14:22Speaker 04

  And luckily the museum, yeah, the museum path actually, in, in the end, I think, was, was, was the right path for me.

• 14:34Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, well, here you are. And now you're here, Bakersfield, running the Bakersfield Museum of Art. Before we let you go, maybe can you tell us what is going on at the museum? What can people look for?

• 14:44Speaker 04

  Ooh, we've got a lot going on. We've got current exhibitions are both looking at local landscapes. Andiner, The Invented Land by Santa Barbara-based artist Andiner. Ellie Vaughn, In the Afterlife of Rivers and Fields, who was actually born and raised in Bakersfield, lives and works in San Francisco. And this Thursday, we're opening a show called 70 Years of Inspiration, The Story of the Bakersfield Museum of Art. Can you believe we turned 70? It was founded in 1956. And it's basically an archival show of photographs, moments in the museum's growth.

• 15:26Speaker 04

  And we're celebrating with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. We're going to have a ribbon-cutting ceremony this Thursday from 5:30 to 7:30. And I believe that March 26 will be Bakersfield Museum of Art Day.

• 15:41Speaker 02

  Oh, nice.

• 15:42Speaker 03

  Wonderful.

• 15:43Speaker 02

  Nice. Mayor Go is going to maybe present a certificate or somebody from the city?

• 15:47Speaker 04

  I hope so.

• 15:47Speaker 02

  That's great. Looks like there's also spring break art workshops for kids and teens coming up.

• 15:53Speaker 04

  Yeah, starting March 30. So it's our BMOA Spring Break Art Workshop. So those tend to be very, very popular. So if anyone is interested, please sign up quickly because that's coming up next week.

• 16:10Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 16:11Speaker 04

  And so it's always focused on different themes. Sometimes it relates to the exhibitions or on different materials that the teachers want to use for the particular session.

• 16:22Speaker 02

  Yeah, I know it's been a big part of the museum for a long time is the getting youth and kids there. And these workshops, it's fantastic.

• 16:30Speaker 03

  Education program.

• 16:31Speaker 04

  No, it's so important. It's so important to us and this community. And then the big thing we're doing in April is celebrating the 70 years. So we're having a two-day blowout party. And if you want more information, you can go online under Events. Um, starting on Friday, April 17th, it's called Art Mix, Art After Dark.

• 16:53Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah.

• 16:54Speaker 04

  Which is gonna be a party in the museum and in the garden. So.

• 16:57Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 16:58Speaker 04

  Uh, we look forward to people coming to that. I believe it's $20 unless you're a member. And then Saturday night, we have, uh, our sort of fancier celebration called Past, Present and Future. And that's gonna be, uh, featuring a dinner catered by Bor- now you're gonna have to help me.

• 17:18Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 17:18Speaker 04

  Bord- a- Bord- a- Petite or Bord- a- Petite.

• 17:21Speaker 02

  Oh, oh, cool.

• 17:22Speaker 03

  I wish I could help. I'm not sure.

• 17:24Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 17:24Speaker 03

  I wish I could help. I'm not sure, but it sounds great.

• 17:27Speaker 04

  But, and there's gonna be a sign auction. We've been working really hard, um, getting, um, really great, um, and exceptional works of art from all up and down California and neighboring states. So that's gonna happen on April 18th.

• 17:42Speaker 02

  That's fantastic. That is my favorite event of the year at the museum is the Art Mix. That, that is the, uh.

• 17:50Speaker 03

  Well, this will be a little bit different, I think, but yes.

• 17:52Speaker 02

  The night before is the Art Mix, right?

• 17:54Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 17:54Speaker 02

  Or Art After Dark?

• 17:55Speaker 04

  They're kind of, it's, it's a, it's because it's the 70th, I think it's, it's, we're, we're looking at as a, as a sort of weekend.

• 18:03Speaker 02

  I see.

• 18:03Speaker 04

  Celebration with tweaked a little bit for the, for the particular evenings.

• 18:08Speaker 02

  Yeah. Well, looking forward to it. And if any of our listeners are interested and wanna find out more, they can go to the Bakersfield Museum of Art's webpage. There's where you can find out more and also Instagram.

• 18:20Speaker 03

  Yeah. Gilbert, we're so lucky to have you here at the Bakersfield Museum of Art. It's such an important part of the town. And I think you're right. A lot of people don't know it exists or have not yet interfaced with it in a way that could be just so beneficial to the community. And, um, it's an institution, like you said, that's been around for 70 years. And so it's wonderful to have somebody from the outside come in and see the gem of Bakersfield that exists here and, um, the museum that exists inside it. And so we're grateful for you being here and, and helping us to, to get that, get that, uh, to a new level.

• 18:53Speaker 04

  Thank you so much.

• 18:55Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 18:55Speaker 02

  Yeah, thank you.

• 18:56Speaker 04

  It's great to be here in the studio. It's fantastic.

• 18:58Speaker 02

  It's great having you. Thanks again, Gilbert. That's Gilbert Vicario, Executive Director and Chief Curator for the Bakersfield Museum of Art. Go check them out. We're Money Wise. We'll be right back.

• 19:07Speaker 00

  Don't forget, Money Wise is more than a radio show. We're an independently owned, local wealth management firm with 60-plus years of collective experience. Our financial advisors are here to help you, Kern County. Together, let's be smart, be safe, be money wise.

• 19:30Speaker 02

  Welcome to Money Wise. We're your hosts today. I'm Jared. That's Emily.

• 19:34Speaker 03

  Hey.

• 19:35Speaker 02

  We've got some messages, comments and questions. We love it. Keep them coming our way. If you've got any questions or comments, 661-396-1000 is the number that you can call or text.

• 19:47Speaker 03

  Oh, this one's interesting.

• 19:49Speaker 02

  It is interesting. I love this discussion. So I'll read this and we'll have a, we'll talk about it. So it says, "I am a waitress and work at a downtown shop, but wanted to share how bad employees are treated at Hard Rock Casino. I work 35 to 45 hours a week and the pay is trash. And when it comes to tips at the end of our shifts, we have to share our tips with servers, cooks, dealers. But what it really messes up is that if we serve $2,000 worth of food in our shift, that's what we are taxed at, even when some of the high, quote, "high rollers" aren't paying for their food. So they don't tip.

• 20:28Speaker 02

  Just wanted to see if you guys understood that type of, that type of it when bringing up how great it is to have all these available jobs. But after a full week, we are happy to bring $500 a week, including tips." A lot of people looking in from the outside. Full-time workers are lucky to bring home a hundred dollars a day. So I'm curious, I'm like, get your thoughts on this, but essentially the way that I interpret this is, you know, that some of these, some of these jobs, you know, don't necessarily pay out as well as people would like to imagine. So I imagine part of this complaint is, yeah, the Hard Rock Cafe is great, or Hard Rock Casino is great,

• 21:12Speaker 02

  but not all these jobs are super great. And it sounds like part of the reason is the way that the tips are distributed and the way that how tips are handled. This is something, I've always been very fascinated with just tip culture in general.

• 21:27Speaker 03

  Yeah, I think it, from the way I understand it is it's different at every restaurant or every place that tips would be involved, which are oftentimes restaurants and bars and things like that. The way the tips are distributed, it varies across the board, I think.

• 21:47Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 21:47Speaker 03

  And I wonder how many public, how many people in the public are aware of where their tips are going, you know, and how they're getting distributed to the staff and stuff.

• 22:01Speaker 02

  Right.

• 22:02Speaker 03

  And how the base pay is versus the tip pay and all of that kind of stuff. It's, it's hard to know.

• 22:08Speaker 02

  It, yeah, you could always ask, I guess, you know, ask your server. But the, you're right, some organizations have direct tips, so the servers just kind of keep their own. Which, you know, the pros there is that, you know, the high performers get to make more. And there's this clear connection between the, the service and the person giving the tip. And it can also motivate hustling and upselling because it's, you know, it's going to go directly to that server. But it's not always made out to be the best because it does then create this internal competition, which can be unhealthy in some cases. And then back of house wouldn't get anything or little to nothing.

• 22:52Speaker 02

  So the listener, for example, mentions the, the.

• 22:55Speaker 03

  The dealers.

• 22:56Speaker 02

  Dealers, you know.

• 22:56Speaker 03

  Some of the tips, yeah.

• 22:57Speaker 02

  Yeah, so it can feel unfair for, you know, the coworkers. The other option that restaurants or certain locations use is they just pool the tips. And that is, so, you know, all the tips are pooled and they're split among the servers and the bart- sometimes the bartenders. And the distribution is usually based off of what they've been, how many, the hours that they've been working.

• 23:24Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 23:25Speaker 02

  Uh, this is nice because it, you know, creates, you know, teamwork and reduces like, uh, competition among the different sections. But it also brings out problems because now you have where strong servers are maybe being penalized and weak servers or weak performers are being carried by the strong performers.

• 23:46Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 23:46Speaker 02

  It's like, why is this server getting a tip when they're not nearly working as hard as this, as this other person?

• 23:52Speaker 03

  Sure.

• 23:52Speaker 02

  And, um, and so, you know, there's, there's pros and cons with that, but the full tip pool, this is what our listeners is mentioning. All tips just go into a pool and then they're distributed across the servers and dishwashers and the hosts and everybody. And of course, there's problems with that too. I mean, there's, the pros obviously is it, you'd have less rub maybe between the different sections. But the problem is now, you know, the, the, the servers maybe aren't getting what they feel like they deserve. And there is sometimes this tension between back of house and front of house. Where the server's like, well, we deserve the tip. We're the one that's giving the service, but the back of house is going, well, yeah, but we're the ones giving the food for the service.

• 24:34Speaker 03

  Yeah. Yeah, I can see the, um, the complexity of knowing exactly how to handle it. Because you want to sort of, um, encourage your servers and everyone else involved with the public facing to do so, you know, in the best way that they can. So there's a, there's an incentive there for them to do that if there are tips involved.

• 24:59Speaker 02

  Right.

• 24:59Speaker 03

  But at the same time, it's such a large part of their income, um, especially if the base rates are so low. Uh, and so it, it, it's almost like a rock and a hard place situation, I think, for employees as well as customers, as well as the operators of said restaurant.

• 25:19Speaker 02

  Yeah. It's unfortunate that, or fortunate, depending on who you're talking to, that we live in a country where tips are kind of expected. There are lots of countries that do not tip. A lot of the Asian countries, for example.

• 25:34Speaker 03

  Yeah, Japan, tipping is seen as rude.

• 25:37Speaker 02

  Right.

• 25:37Speaker 03

  And in Australia, they have higher wages, but tipping is optional, and even then, it's like very minimal.

• 25:44Speaker 02

  Yeah. Spain was like that, too.

• 25:46Speaker 03

  Yeah, and Europe's service is often included in the, in the cost. I know when we visited Spain years ago, the, the servers and the restaurants were career people that took great pride in their work, and I think that was reflected in the fact that they were salaried and.

• 26:06Speaker 02

  Didn't rely on tips.

• 26:08Speaker 03

  Compensated appropriately, yeah.

• 26:10Speaker 02

  Yeah, there, there's also been a, especially starting around COVID, around 2020, a big increase in, in tips, in what tips were, who was expected to give a tip. And you, you have now essentially a pushback against that tipping culture. There's been like tip exhaustion, basically, where, you know, there's just too much of this, of this tipping culture where people are starting to push back. And, and there, and there's data to, to prove that. So in, in, in 2020, the typical

• 26:51Speaker 02

  tip was higher than it is today. So it's actually, it's all gone down, but it went up dramatically. So at that time, when COVID hit.

• 27:01Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 27:02Speaker 02

  There were, there was a, a much more higher push towards tipping, all different kinds of people.

• 27:11Speaker 03

  I remember that. Everyone trying to help one another out.

• 27:14Speaker 02

  Right.

• 27:15Speaker 03

  Especially the essential workers were often those who would get the tips because they were still having to work while the rest of us stayed home.

• 27:23Speaker 02

  That's right. And that has since there's been like this pushback and people are basically saying that they're fed up and all surveys say that they that Americans are basically kind of overdone, like they're pulling back from their tips.

• 27:39Speaker 03

  They probably feel like they're they're just subsidizing wages that the business won't pay full wages for.

• 27:44Speaker 02

  Yeah, and that definitely happens. Yeah.

• 27:46Speaker 03

  And maybe that's the feeling. I'm not saying that's the actual result, but that's that's potentially like what the customers are feeling is like, maybe these businesses should pay their people more.

• 27:57Speaker 02

  Yeah, right. And you and I have been to some places where the restaurants actually says, you know, you have your menu and then you get your bill and that one of the items on the bill is.

• 28:08Speaker 03

  They've already included gratuity.

• 28:10Speaker 02

  Yeah. Or if it have included gratuity, they include a surcharge for benefits, like a benefit surcharge. And they'll have a little explanation on the table or a sign somewhere that says, this is so that we can offer employees benefit, like health insurance benefits. And that's always a little bit like, what? You're like, you're making your like, I get that as a consumer, I'm the one paying it anyways for your, you know, because I'm the one buying your product. But like, kind of putting it out there is like, it's a little weird.

• 28:39Speaker 03

  Being kind of blatant about it.

• 28:40Speaker 02

  Yeah. Yeah. But, you know, tips, tips have increased over the years, you know, going back to the 50s and 60s, we've seen a gradual increase.

• 28:51Speaker 03

  And percentage wise?

• 28:52Speaker 02

  Percentage wise. The percentage that people pay in tips.

• 28:56Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 28:56Speaker 02

  And then it sort of peaked in around COVID. And since then, it's come down slightly. But the national average today is about 20%. That's the average tip.

• 29:08Speaker 03

  What was it back then?

• 29:11Speaker 02

  15. 15% used to be the standard. So it's, you know, it's gone up, you know, 30%. 35% tips have gone up and tipping behavior has gone up in that way. So it makes sense that at some point it'd get, it would just be too much, you know, we're just consumers are just going to say, no, I'm not, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna tip that, you know?

• 29:31Speaker 03

  Yeah, right.

• 29:33Speaker 02

  I have found since we've opened up the luncheonette that I do tip. I've always felt like I was a decent tipper, but now I feel like I'm a good tipper.

• 29:40Speaker 03

  Yeah, I understand. Yeah.

• 29:42Speaker 02

  I know where I know where this goes.

• 29:44Speaker 03

  Right.

• 29:44Speaker 02

  People, people need and that kind of stuff. So, great, great question. Thank you, listener, for sending that in. Got another message here. It says, "We thought gas prices were bad here in Bakersfield. We went to San Luis Obispo for an office meeting and gas prices were anywhere from $6.90 to $7.50 a gallon." That is correct. Gas can be a lot more expensive over on the coast. Of course, we're already dealing in California. It has the high, the nation's highest gas prices. We've seen oil go up in price dramatically since the war in Iran.

• 30:23Speaker 02

  And that, that has brought up, you know, global oil prices went from about $60 a barrel. They, they went up over $100 a barrel. Today, there were some headlines because over the weekend, President Trump basically said that he was willing to wind down the war quicker.

• 30:42Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 30:43Speaker 02

  Kind of escalate, de-escalate the, the, the problems in the Strait of Hormuz. And so, we actually saw oil prices drop down dramatically today.

• 30:52Speaker 03

  Just because of his comments on that?

• 30:54Speaker 02

  Just because of his comments.

• 30:55Speaker 03

  Oh, okay.

• 30:55Speaker 02

  So, oil prices go down and we saw stock prices go up. All major indices were up over 1% today off of that hopeful news that there was maybe is going to be a de-escalation there. But nationwide, you know, we're seeing gas prices, you know, climb pretty dramatically.

• 31:10Speaker 03

  Definitely.

• 31:11Speaker 02

  I'm looking in Bakersfield, the most expensive gas, according to GasBuddy, in Bakersfield is the Chevron over on Taft Highway. $6.69 a gallon.

• 31:23Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 31:24Speaker 02

  That's the most expensive gas that I could find online.

• 31:26Speaker 03

  Cha-ching!

• 31:28Speaker 02

  Yeah. The cheapest gas, $4.95 a gallon.

• 31:33Speaker 03

  Do you know where?

• 31:34Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 31:35Speaker 03

  Oh, boy.

• 31:35Speaker 02

  The QuickTrip on Edison Highway.

• 31:37Speaker 03

  Okay. So, everyone's gonna head over there now?

• 31:39Speaker 02

  This is as of five hours ago. There's also the 76 on California Avenue is just about two cents more a gallon, $4.97 a gallon. This is the 76 on California.

• 31:52Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 31:53Speaker 02

  Yeah. So, I mean, it's, there's still, it looks like four. There's about five or six gas stations that are just barely below $5 a gallon.

• 32:03Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 32:03Speaker 02

  Here in Bakersfield. The rest of them are above $5. And as I mentioned, the most expensive being that Chevron on Taft Highway. That's almost, almost $7 a gallon.

• 32:14Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 32:14Speaker 02

  This is, I mean, California's got a big, big problems. And if, unless something changes, unless we see a lower demand or an increase in the supply, the outlook does not look good for gasoline prices in California. Some economists are projecting $8 a gallon.

• 32:33Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 32:34Speaker 02

  And.

• 32:35Speaker 03

  It's not going in the right direction.

• 32:36Speaker 02

  It's not going in the right direction. And there's no quick fixes. And the refineries being the biggest, the biggest problem, the, the lack of them and those that continue to shut down. The oil, the oil price is just part of this, part of the cost. It's like half of the cost. The other half of the cost comes from transportation, refining, marketing, taxes. You've got all these other things.

• 32:58Speaker 03

  It's a complex system.

• 33:00Speaker 02

  Very complex and lots of, lots of things to, to take into account for them. Great questions, great comments. Please keep them coming our way. We're going to take a final break of the day. We'll come back. A lot more to talk about. We're MoneyWise.

• 33:13Speaker 00

  If you're a business owner who provides a retirement plan for your employees, contact MoneyWise Wealth Management to see if you're maximizing your options and minimizing your liabilities. MoneyWise 401k plans are customized to you and your company's needs. 661-847-1000. That's 661-847-1000.

• 33:37Speaker 03

  I really appreciate this, Stephen.

• 33:38Speaker 02

  All right. Now's your time to shine.

• 33:41Speaker 03

  This is my, my, uh, cereal to go to, you know?

• 33:45Speaker 03

  Yeah. If you know every.

• 33:46Speaker 02

  You're not calling for it.

• 33:46Speaker 03

  No, no. I mean, I don't want to, I don't want to make everybody feel bad.

• 33:49Speaker 02

  Yeah. Scare off the listeners. Thanks for tuning in. We're MoneyWise. That's Emily. I'm Sharad. We're your hosts today, taking your questions and comments along the way. Emily, let's get to that, uh, comment.

• 33:59Speaker 03

  Yeah, that sounds good. Um, okay. We got a comment here, uh, that says, "We were planning on flying out to Orlando this year for a family vacation. I do not think it'll be happening afterwards of the rising of flights going up almost double with prices on fuel." And then a sad emoji. That is really sad.

• 34:18Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's a bummer. And, you know, obviously this is one of the side effects of rising gas prices. The airlines will generally.

• 34:27Speaker 02

  Raise prices pretty quickly. They use dynamic pricing, which means they can adjust the fares constantly based off of the demand and based off of their costs. So they know what their costs are. So they know if their fuel costs just went up, even if it's the same flight that, you know, your friend bought tickets earlier in the day and you buy them later in the day, they can change that quickly. And they can adjust that based off of them getting news that the gas is going to be more to, you know, to fly the plane to its destination. It's the jet fuel is one of the largest expenses in flying. It's

• 35:06Speaker 02

  about almost, almost 30% of the cost of your, of, of your plane trip is for jet fuel. And so it makes sense when jet fuels spike, you see a lot of changes going, especially in ticket prices.

• 35:23Speaker 03

  How, how frequently can they change them? Like from moment to moment?

• 35:27Speaker 02

  Yeah, moment to moment. Yeah, it's dynamic. So it can, it can change, you know, right, right away.

• 35:33Speaker 03

  So if you, like, I remember back in the day, maybe, maybe this is not the case anymore, but I was taught growing up and in most of my adult life that you got to buy your, buy your airplane tickets not too far out and not too close to the time. You get to find the window where you can get the best deal. But now that is completely that mood.

• 35:52Speaker 02

  No, it's still the case. It's just, it's just even more dynamic than it used to be. Meaning you, if you, if you buy to, if you buy too late, then the outlet, call it the algorithm.

• 36:05Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 36:05Speaker 02

  That will know, oh, there's, there's a lot of people that are interested in this. So we can jack up the price. We can go up because we know that the demand is going to go up. And so they can, they can adjust those ticket prices right on the fly based off of real data. So whereas if you buy your plane ticket earlier, there's less data there to tell the algorithm about pricing. They're willing to go, okay, well, let's see. You know, if it doesn't sell quick right away, and there's not a lot of people that are showing interest, then prices are going to be low for a while. Maybe prices stay low the entire time and nobody.

• 36:36Speaker 02

  Everybody ever, you know, you end up going on an empty flight or it's a very low booked flight.

• 36:42Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 36:42Speaker 02

  Because it just never got, never got the demand and they, so they, they didn't raise prices even to the very end because they didn't see the demand for it.

• 36:50Speaker 03

  Hmm.

• 36:51Speaker 02

  So it.

• 36:51Speaker 03

  I see.

• 36:52Speaker 02

  It's harder, it's a little bit harder to trick the system, but the, what we have going for us is that you can still buy tickets cheap that maybe a third party bought these tickets, you know, like there's, there's.

• 37:03Speaker 03

  Like Priceline?

• 37:04Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 37:05Speaker 03

  Something like that?

• 37:06Speaker 02

  Yeah, there's discount, um, travel companies that kind of buy these in bulk. And so sometimes you can still get these deals. But you can do a lot more shopping, online shopping and price comparison now with the, you know, with what we have on the internet. And so you, you know, it's a little bit easier than what it used to be when we were younger, where you just kind of add, you got what you got, you know? It wasn't, it was really difficult to sort of know how to compare it unless you went with the travel agency or something. The ticket prices though have come down over the last 20 years.

• 37:40Speaker 03

  What?

• 37:40Speaker 02

  Yeah. Ticket prices are cheaper now than they were 20 years ago.

• 37:44Speaker 03

  I'm, I bet a lot of people, I, I'm surprised to hear that. I bet a lot of people would, would think that was not true.

• 37:50Speaker 02

  Yeah, I, I guess so. Yeah, that I could see that, um, maybe because of the perception that gas has gone up because gas is so much more expensive.

• 38:00Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 38:00Speaker 02

  Well, there's been a few things that manufacturing has gotten better.

• 38:03Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 38:03Speaker 02

  Right?

• 38:04Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 38:04Speaker 02

  So you have.

• 38:05Speaker 03

  Planes are lighter.

• 38:06Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 38:07Speaker 03

  Also that, you know, they don't use as much gas.

• 38:09Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 38:09Speaker 03

  They're more efficient.

• 38:11Speaker 02

  More efficient. Yeah.

• 38:12Speaker 03

  Everything's probably gotten more efficient.

• 38:14Speaker 02

  Everything has gotten more efficient, enough where it's not dramatic. And essentially 20 years ago, you'd be paying the same price for a plane ticket as you are today. So, but inflation has eaten away at a lot. So what, what $300 was back then.

• 38:31Speaker 02

  Was, let's call it, it was, uh, let's call it $500. And, you know, whereas today, $300 is 300 bucks. So, you know, you're paying the same for the, the, the flight. It was still costing you 300 bucks, but $300 20 years ago was a lot more money than $300 is today.

• 38:50Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 38:50Speaker 02

  So essentially, it's just, it stayed the same price, but if you, if you strip out inflation.

• 38:54Speaker 03

  Okay. Well, I mean, is there any, does it factor in at all, the fact that they are just like smashing us in their like sardines now? Rather than they used to have so much more space?

• 39:08Speaker 02

  Yeah, there was more.

• 39:09Speaker 03

  I mean, there's some, there's some kind of math equation that's involved there.

• 39:12Speaker 02

  The other thing that airlines have done is they started charging for other things like bags.

• 39:16Speaker 03

  Yep.

• 39:17Speaker 02

  And changes.

• 39:19Speaker 03

  Food.

• 39:19Speaker 02

  And food, yep. And now we have peak travel, we have this dynamic pricing. Extra legroom, you got all these other things. So airline companies have figured out ways to still be profitable.

• 39:30Speaker 03

  Window seat.

• 39:31Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, assigned seating.

• 39:33Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah.

• 39:33Speaker 02

  That kind of stuff. Yeah, good stuff. Got more questions and comments?

• 39:38Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah, okay. So we had a comment come in when we had, um, our guest on earlier. Have you ever seen Cheech Marin Art Museum out in Riverside? We hadn't heard of it before, but we walked by it and paid the fee to go check it out. And it is a nice hidden treat out in Riverside. I'm excited to see what a new face will bring to our local museum. Thank you for sharing. It's so true. And I, I want to say, um, you know, I said it a little bit before, um, when Gilbert was in, but there's, we talk about third spaces. And I'm not sure if our listeners are familiar with that term, but a third space, meaning it's not the first space, which is home. It's not the second space, which is work. It's a third space where we, you know, can gather together as communities.

• 40:23Speaker 03

  And there's a reason why third spaces, especially museums are so important to our communities. Um, you know, unlike restaurants, shops and things like that, museums, you don't have to pay to get in typically. You're allowed just to be there. You don't have to buy anything. You can wander, sit, you know, no pressure to spend. And money and they're accessible across all ages. You know, they preserve history and art and spark conversations. You're not just doing something, you're thinking and feeling and it creates a space for curiosity and empathy and, and even discomfort sometimes, you know, there's education involved like we talked about and it's a place to spark, you know, creativity for other people.

• 41:06Speaker 03

  So I, I, I personally feel very passionate about third spaces, especially creative third spaces. And I've been a lover of the Bakers Museum of Art for many years and I often find that people are unaware that even it exists in town. And of all the different programs that are there. So I'm, I'm very excited to see and I hope that a lot of people, just like this caller or this writer in commented, can, you know, just sort of come upon the museum and find out how amazing it is and what it has to offer.

• 41:36Speaker 02

  Yeah, yep.

• 41:39Speaker 02

  We've got another comment.

• 41:42Speaker 02

  You want to read that?

• 41:43Speaker 03

  Yes, our last comment was, uh, the real problem, this is in reference to our tipping. And I think this might have been the same, yeah, the same person that commented before, which is a follow-up. This person said, the real problem is being taxed so much where we were sold on that it would be made up in great tips. And that's not what happens. Maybe I was just mistaken on how the pay was going to be.

• 42:09Speaker 02

  This is, I, I'd love to hear more if the, if the listener is, is still listening. You know, I'm curious because taxes, uh, tips are not taxed now for most people. And, and so, and the other, the other thing that's confounding is I don't know of a scenario where somebody is taxed on the bill.

• 42:33Speaker 02

  When the server is taxed on the bill.

• 42:36Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 42:36Speaker 02

  Like, why would the server be taxed? The servers would be taxed based off of their income that they're getting paid, not the bill, not the revenues that the restaurant or the company is bringing in.

• 42:53Speaker 03

  Yeah, it's kind of confusing because it sounds like from the phone call that this listener expressed that that was not the case, right?

• 43:03Speaker 02

  Right.

• 43:03Speaker 03

  So I'd be interested to hear like exactly what that means.

• 43:06Speaker 02

  I could see where there would be a scenario like this where they're being short-changed, where they are like, maybe they're killing it in their dining room where they work.

• 43:18Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 43:18Speaker 02

  But because it's a pooled tips, they are competing against maybe another dining room, or call it a casino area or a bar area that didn't do that well in tips. And so their dining room is subsidizing the other areas that didn't do well.

• 43:42Speaker 03

  That is not what I understand this person is saying. So we might have to, we might have to like get another conversation going on this, you know, further down the road because my understanding is the person is saying that it's the taxing before the tips go out that's the problem. They're being taxed on things such as $200 worth of food in our shift that we were taxed at even when some of the high rollers aren't paying for their food.

• 44:08Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I don't understand how they're being taxed for somebody else's bill.

• 44:13Speaker 03

  Right.

• 44:14Speaker 02

  Like, why would a server be taxed for any of that? You know, like, doesn't, I'm not quite clear, but be happy to answer that. I do love the topic of tips.

• 44:27Speaker 03

  Interesting topic. Yeah, we should, we should continue on that down the road.

• 44:30Speaker 02

  Well, tomorrow, we're going to have back on the show Dr. Richard Gerhart. He's an economist at Cal State Bakersfield. Always love having Dr. Gerhart on the show.

• 44:39Speaker 03

  Has he been in here yet?

• 44:41Speaker 02

  He has. He's been here. Into the new space? Yeah, yeah, he's been here in the new space. So we'll have him here in the basement of the Woolworths. And of course, as before we leave, want to remind you that you can find this in any of our previous shows, wherever you stream your podcasts. And as we leave, remember these three things. Be smart, be safe, and always be money wise.

• 45:06Speaker 05

  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.