Is Gen Z Financially Doomed? Let’s Talk About It

📈 Are you on track with the Baby Steps? Get a free personalized plan. Is it harder for Gen Z to get ahead with money compared to other generations? In this episode, Rachel and George break down what’s working for and against them—plus answer Gen Z’s biggest questions about how to win financially. Next Steps: 🎥 Watch our video Dave Ramsey Answers Your Most-Asked Questions. 🍸 Follow Smart Money Happy Hour on TikTok: @smartmoneyhappyhour 📱 Submit a Guilty As Charged question for Rachel and George! Send a DM to @rachelcruze or @georgekamel on Instagram! Be sure to type “GUILTY?” at the top of your message so we don’t miss it. 💵 The simplest way to budget. Download the EveryDollar app for free! Connect With Our Sponsors: Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe. Get up to 40% off with code SMARTMONEY at Cozy Earth. Today’s Happy Hour Special: 🍹 Strawberry Mint Mojito Mocktail Recipe: Soda Sense 3 strawberries 16 mint leaves 0.75 ounce lime juice 2 ounces sparkling water Instructions: Grab a rocks glass and fill it with strawberries and mint. Begin lightly muddling your two ingredients together until fully incorporated. Next, add lime juice, fill the glass with ice, and top your drink off with sparkling water. To incorporate the ingredients more, lightly mix in an upward direction. Garnish with lime wheels and strawberries. Explore More From Ramsey Network: 💡 The Rachel Cruze Show 💰 George Kamel 🎙️ The Ramsey Show 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights 🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 🪑 Front Row Seat with Ken Coleman 📈 EntreLeadership Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:05George Kamel?

  Today, we're taking Gen Z under our millennial wings. It is going to be so adorable and so financially practical.

• 0:12Rachel Cruze?

  Because some of those negative things for Gen Z, housing markets, student loan debts, all that. There are some perks they have, though.

• 0:18George Kamel?

  My first thought is like, I'm sorry for how insecure you are. That's my true first thought. My second thought is, ew.

• 0:31Rachel Cruze?

  Hey, guys, I'm Rachel Cruz.

• 0:33George Kamel?

  I'm George Kamel.

• 0:34Rachel Cruze?

  And this is Smart Money Happy Hour.

• 0:43Rachel Cruze?

  Well, this is a show where two friends who happen to be money experts talk about what you're talking about. Everything from pop culture, current events, and money.

• 0:49George Kamel?

  And before we get to the hot goss among the youth, I think that's what they say still.

• 0:55Rachel Cruze?

  Hot goss?

• 0:56George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 0:56Rachel Cruze?

  Goss up?

• 0:57George Kamel?

  Yeah, I think after Ryan Gosling, I think it's a Gosling reference.

• 1:00Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, funny.

• 1:01George Kamel?

  I don't think it is. Gossip, that's the term.

• 1:04Rachel Cruze?

  Gossip, yeah.

• 1:04George Kamel?

  Let's talk about what we're sipping on. It is a strawberry mojito mocktail. I'm gonna just let the cat out of the bag. Pretty good.

• 1:11Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, this is a good one. This is a good one.

• 1:13George Kamel?

  So stick around till the end. We'll give you our rating and reveal the cost per glass.

• 1:17Rachel Cruze?

  Yep.

• 1:18George Kamel?

  Okay, well, Gen Z gets a lot of heat, and rightfully so.

• 1:22Rachel Cruze?

  You think?

• 1:23George Kamel?

  They ate Tide Pods at one point, so I feel like we gotta, can't let them off the hook for that one. But one thing I love about them is that they are real. Do you at least agree with that?

• 1:32Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, for sure. I mean, they can be aggressive about it, too, right? I mean, they're

• 1:36George Kamel?

  They're not scared.

• 1:37Rachel Cruze?

  They're not scared. They ain't scared of anyone.

• 1:39George Kamel?

  They grew up getting bullied on the internet, so they're very tough.

• 1:42Rachel Cruze?

  They're the first generation to experience social media at 12. God bless you all. The fact that y'all are still here, that's a miracle.

• 1:50George Kamel?

  Yes.

• 1:51Rachel Cruze?

  Could you imagine if we had that? We couldn't handle that. If our boomer parents had the internet and it got all of that mean stuff on social media when they were little, they wouldn't survive all that. They're strong. Gen Z is strong.

• 2:02George Kamel?

  Very resilient. And have you seen these videos on social media where it's just someone posting a selfie with suspenseful music and then a prompt says, "I'm bored. Comment your craziest first date story." Or, "I'm bored. Comment your most unhinged financial advice." I don't know why I love those.

• 2:15Rachel Cruze?

  Those are funny. And then I love the ones that are like, okay, how did millennials? Millennials, please tell us, like, how did you survive the 2008 recession? Or like, millennials, how did y'all have weddings without the internet and being able to book everything on the internet? Like, it was so like, they always want to know our advice and how we lived in the world when we did.

• 2:33George Kamel?

  And then we give them the advice and they go, ew.

• 2:35Rachel Cruze?

  Ew.

• 2:36George Kamel?

  Why would you ask?

• 2:38Rachel Cruze?

  Ew.

• 2:39George Kamel?

  Well, we've lived through a lot, us millennials, me and you. And we're here to shoot you straight about your financial future and offer some tools to help you achieve some money goals despite how easy or difficult you have it compared to other generations.

• 2:51Rachel Cruze?

  Yep. So, Gen Z, this episode's for you. And even if you're not in, Gen Z, you'll probably appreciate it.

• 2:56George Kamel?

  Yeah, I think the boomers are sitting up above it all, judging. And the Gen Xers are like, "Don't forget about us again."

• 3:02Rachel Cruze?

  They are kind of the lost.

• 3:03George Kamel?

  "We exist too."

• 3:04Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, those are the lost generations.

• 3:05George Kamel?

  Go listen to some Pearl Jam, bud. You'll be all right. All right.

• 3:10Rachel Cruze?

  If producer Kelly was here, she would not appreciate that.

• 3:12George Kamel?

  She'd be very upset.

• 3:12Rachel Cruze?

  Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

• 3:14George Kamel?

  Well, let's get real about the factors that may make it more difficult for Gen Z to get ahead financially.

• 3:19Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 3:19George Kamel?

  Because there's some real talk here.

• 3:20Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah. I'm gonna start off with student loans.

• 3:23George Kamel?

  That's a big one.

• 3:23Rachel Cruze?

  I think it's, it has increased so much. Like, I remember being in school. I was there in 2006. And student loans were there, but it was like a, it kind of felt so like few and far between. It wasn't like a automatic student loan.

• 3:35George Kamel?

  And it wasn't really talked about.

• 3:36Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, it just wasn't, yeah. But now, I feel like if you like went to school in like 2012, or 13, or 14, or 15, Everyone had loans and like a lot of loans because tuition was so high. It started to creep up a lot. I don't know, I just like the student loan part and the industry was so much more aggressive towards Gen Z and all of it. I don't know, I just think they got the bad end of the student loan stick, if you will.

• 3:59George Kamel?

  Yeah, I mean, they're more prevalent, they're more normalized and they're more available.

• 4:02Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, that's a good way of putting it.

• 4:03George Kamel?

  Let's cover a few stats here.

• 4:05Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, so the total amount of student loan debt in America right now is 1.77 trillion dollars. The average student loan borrower borrows 38,883 dollars. Which I want to say, that's a little lower than I would have thought. Maybe because we host The Ramsey Show and we get people that have like 120, 140, like, like six figures has become more common, I feel like. So, you know, if you're under 40 grand, not doing too shabby.

• 4:30George Kamel?

  Good for you.

• 4:31Rachel Cruze?

  Doing good. The average interest rate is 6.53% and the average student loan payment is over 200 dollars a month.

• 4:38George Kamel?

  Yeah, I mean, I had 36,000, which was probably a little above average back then when I graduated in 2012.

• 4:45Rachel Cruze?

  For sure.

• 4:46George Kamel?

  I don't remember all the interest rates, but I do think the interest rates have been creeping up and up and up. So this one bothers me because there's a victim mentality around student loans, understandably so. The student loan companies are predatory and everyone just said, this is the path, go to school at all costs, don't worry about it. So I do think there's a piece of it where I go, not all of this is your fault. But you also signed on the dotted line, just like you would with any other debt.

• 5:11Rachel Cruze?

  But at 18 years old, when your frontal cortex isn't even completely formed, like, do you know what I mean?

• 5:15George Kamel?

  And you're like, well, you told me I needed this, so I guess I don't have an option.

• 5:18Rachel Cruze?

  I know, right, right. So I do feel bad.

• 5:20George Kamel?

  So I think the parents are guilty here, the guidance counselors, the student loan companies, society at large.

• 5:25Rachel Cruze?

  Society at large.

• 5:26George Kamel?

  At large. So this one does bother me. Did you see the recent White House update?

• 5:31Rachel Cruze?

  Uh, maybe, I don't know.

• 5:33George Kamel?

  They said, student loan repayments back, baby.

• 5:35Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, I did, yes.

• 5:36George Kamel?

  Pay up.

• 5:36Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 5:37George Kamel?

  So we went from like forgiveness could happen to it's not happening to and pay up.

• 5:42Rachel Cruze?

  And now you're paying.

• 5:42George Kamel?

  So I understand there's a lot of fear right now around student loans and paying it back. And so if you are a Gen Z-er who has not yet taken out student loans, please don't.

• 5:53Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 5:54George Kamel?

  Don't be a part of these stats.

• 5:55Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, you know.

• 5:56George Kamel?

  Do whatever it takes.

• 5:57Rachel Cruze?

  Take a gap year if you need to. Try to see if you could work without a degree. I don't know, for a hot second, maybe you can. Who knows, right? So.

• 6:04George Kamel?

  And don't be like, I need to move across the country to do this. I was dumb enough to do that. Cause I thought, who needs an in-state school that's super cheap and affordable when I could travel across the country and find myself?

• 6:15Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, I had a call on the Ramsey show. I was wondering if you hosted with me. And she was like, I don't like the state she was in, was Georgia. She had a, another parent that lived in like North Carolina, so she could get tuition.

• 6:27George Kamel?

  Yes, I was on that show.

• 6:28Rachel Cruze?

  She was like, I don't like that state either. Like all this stuff. And I'm like,

• 6:30George Kamel?

  I was getting visibly frustrated.

• 6:32Rachel Cruze?

  Like there's a part is like, I mean, and for four years of your life, to get half of, half off.

• 6:38George Kamel?

  She wanted to go for interior design, I remember. And I said, I looked it up on the internet while I was on the call. I said, there's Appalachian State for seven grand a year.

• 6:45Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 6:45George Kamel?

  Why not that? She's like, I don't like North Carolina.

• 6:48Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, I know. Yes, I know. I was like, girlfriend.

• 6:51George Kamel?

  She wanted to go to SCAD, which is a very expensive, very fancy schmancy name brand school, go into crippling debt so that she could have an experience.

• 7:00Rachel Cruze?

  I know, I know.

• 7:01George Kamel?

  So it breaks my heart to hear that.

• 7:04Rachel Cruze?

  All right, next. Overprotective parenting. So, man, they did. Gen Z. We had parents, we had the boomers.

• 7:12George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 7:12Rachel Cruze?

  Which, we were 90s kids. I feel like 80s kids were feral. 90s kids, we were kinda feral.

• 7:20George Kamel?

  We were caged with minor supervision.

• 7:22Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, I feel like all the like kidnapping stuff started happening in the 90s, like Face on the Milk Carton, like that movie. I feel like my parents were scared of kidnap, like.

• 7:30George Kamel?

  Stranger danger started to become a thing.

• 7:32Rachel Cruze?

  That was a big thing. Uh, but we could still ride by. I mean, we would be gone, obviously no cell phones and any of that.

• 7:38George Kamel?

  Do you ever think like, they probably should have been more involved or more like chaperone?

• 7:43Rachel Cruze?

  With it?

• 7:44George Kamel?

  I feel that way. Like, I don't know how they just let me.

• 7:47Rachel Cruze?

  You know what's funny to me is things like sleepovers. Like mom and dad, like they.

• 7:52George Kamel?

  Oh yeah, it's a big deal now. It's like there's big anti-

• 7:53Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, a lot of people don't do it now, right?

• 7:55George Kamel?

  Anti-sleepover movement.

• 7:56Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, yes. A lot of people don't do sleepovers anymore. But mom said, "Yeah, they're only here. Go, whatever." I'm like, "Do you even know these parents?" Like, do you-

• 8:04George Kamel?

  Eh, it'll be fine.

• 8:04Rachel Cruze?

  Do you know anything? Yeah, but there was never, yeah, so the freedom, but you know what, like-

• 8:09George Kamel?

  But it was great.

• 8:10Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, there wasn't a lot of like anxiety.

• 8:12George Kamel?

  Don't you think part of that made us more capable human beings? Cause we were more independent?

• 8:16Rachel Cruze?

  Figure things out, yes. I would agree with that.

• 8:18George Kamel?

  Like, I would take, I was 13 years old and I would walk to the train station, take a train into Boston by myself and go skateboard until 10 o'clock at night.

• 8:27Rachel Cruze?

  And take the train home.

• 8:28George Kamel?

  And they would like, check in on me. I'd let them know what time I'd be home. So there was-

• 8:31Rachel Cruze?

  Sure.

• 8:31George Kamel?

  Guardrails, but I was still just skating in the streets.

• 8:34Rachel Cruze?

  Right, right. Where now, I read this line in the book Angst Generation, I was like, "That's so good." Now, we are over-parenting in the real world and under-parenting in the technology world. So like, you're like, hand your kid an iPad, but you're like, you're gonna be on a leash if we're at an airport. Like, I can't, you know what I mean? Like, it's like, oh my gosh, it's the opposite. It should be the opposite. Like, in the real world, you're gonna be fine. Go climb a tree, go figure it out.

• 8:57George Kamel?

  Go climb a tree.

• 8:58Rachel Cruze?

  Here's an iPhone 10-year-old with the world on it. Do you know what I'm saying? I'm like, "It's wild."

• 9:03George Kamel?

  And they're like, "I'm gonna do everything for you."

• 9:05Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, that's a big thing, yeah.

• 9:07George Kamel?

  You know, if every obstacle is removed, the kids never get the chance to grow.

• 9:10Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, so that was another thing. It was like, instead of a helicopter parent-

• 9:13George Kamel?

  It's kind of the comfort crisis.

• 9:13Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, and instead of a helicopter parent, where they're like, watching everything, now it's snowplow parents. So they smooth out the path for the kid. So there's no bumps, no hurt, like, nothing. They just have a very smooth walk. And yeah, that does not create resilience and all of it. But parents will call teachers, I've heard this, if the kid like, is failing a class, will call the teac- and like, figure out how to up the grade. And then now, some school systems, George, won't even fail kids.

• 9:39George Kamel?

  Because of what? Isn't that crazy? Because it'll hurt their self-esteem?

• 9:41Rachel Cruze?

  And they just go ahead and pass, like, I mean, it's wild.

• 9:43George Kamel?

  Don't you think at some point, we need to go, "Hey, if you didn't do the work, you shouldn't get a B or a C."

• 9:50Rachel Cruze?

  Right, right. So anyways, it's wild.

• 9:52George Kamel?

  Oh, yai yai.

• 9:53Rachel Cruze?

  I don't know what I am, though. What do you think you're gonna be?

• 9:55George Kamel?

  Probably not good.

• 9:59George Kamel?

  I think probably leaning towards overprotective.

• 10:01Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 10:02George Kamel?

  But I don't know if that's because I have a little girl right now. I think I'll be less

• 10:05Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, it feels different with a boy.

• 10:06George Kamel?

  That way with a boy. Yeah, he bumped his head. He's okay. But when it's my little girl, I'm like,

• 10:10Rachel Cruze?

  Just angel.

• 10:11George Kamel?

  You see her cry.

• 10:11Rachel Cruze?

  Just protect her.

• 10:12George Kamel?

  So I hope not. But my wife is very much, she's a better parent. So she's like done the research. We're gonna limit the screen time, you know, all of that stuff.

• 10:21Rachel Cruze?

  Right, right.

• 10:21George Kamel?

  So she's gonna be much more involved in a healthy way of making sure that we, I don't know, don't raise the worst kid ever. I think that's always the fear as a

• 10:29Rachel Cruze?

  That's just the goal, though.

• 10:30George Kamel?

  As a modern parent.

• 10:30Rachel Cruze?

  Just don't be the worst of ever.

• 10:32George Kamel?

  Yeah, cuz now it's like, your kid's gonna survive, most likely.

• 10:36Rachel Cruze?

  Right.

• 10:36George Kamel?

  But how do you help them thrive on their own?

• 10:38Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 10:38George Kamel?

  And feel a sense of independence and as little, as little trauma as possible.

• 10:42Rachel Cruze?

  Right.

• 10:42George Kamel?

  I remember asking Dr. Les Perret that. I said, as a parent, is there a way, cuz like, most trauma comes from childhood.

• 10:47Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 10:48George Kamel?

  Which stems from the parent. Is there a way you can just avoid that and just be a good parent and don't cause your kid any trauma? He said, no, that's impossible.

• 10:56Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 10:56George Kamel?

  There's just a spectrum of trauma.

• 10:58Rachel Cruze?

  Of what it is. Yeah, yeah. It's gonna happen, George.

• 11:00George Kamel?

  Cause as little trauma as possible.

• 11:02Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, man. Well, you know, it's not traumatic is going to CozyEarth.com because man.

• 11:08George Kamel?

  It's the opposite of trauma. I think it's joy. I don't know what the opposite of trauma is.

• 11:11Rachel Cruze?

  Absolute joy and celebration in life. Yeah, Cozy Earth, you guys, they're incredible. Like, everything from their pants. I have their joggers. I have capris. I have lounge pants. I have t-shirts. I have a jacket. I have a robe. I have sheets.

• 11:26George Kamel?

  Head to toe.

• 11:26Rachel Cruze?

  Pajamas. Y'all, I keep going back to CozyEarth.com. I really do. Partly cuz our discount is so amazing.

• 11:31George Kamel?

  Up to 40% off.

• 11:32Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 11:33George Kamel?

  Yeah, most things are 40% off with the code SMARTMONEY, or you go to CozyEarth.com/smartmoney to get the deal. And I'll, I'll be honest, I've been browsing. They have some clogs that I like. Like house shoes. You know what I mean?

• 11:44Rachel Cruze?

  George and a clog?

• 11:46George Kamel?

  But I'm kind of into them.

• 11:47Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 11:48George Kamel?

  I never thought I'd be a clog guy until I went, ooh, those are elegant.

• 11:50Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, I like it. I haven't checked out their shoes yet. I need to.

• 11:52George Kamel?

  Cuz I refuse to be a Crocs guy. And so I need a house shoe that's not a Croc.

• 11:55Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 11:56George Kamel?

  I think this is it.

• 11:57Rachel Cruze?

  And this is it.

• 11:57George Kamel?

  I'll report back when I get them.

• 11:58Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, Cozy Earth clogs. I love it. Well, Cozy Earth, it is amazing. Again, whether it's clothes or bedding, blankets, all of it.

• 12:06George Kamel?

  They got it all.

• 12:07Rachel Cruze?

  It's fantastic. So make sure to check it out. Go to CozyEarth.com/smartmoney and check it out.

• 12:12George Kamel?

  All right, here we go. This is the big one.

• 12:14Rachel Cruze?

  Yep.

• 12:14George Kamel?

  Housing.

• 12:17George Kamel?

  We had to do it to them. This is a big one with inflation, rent, mortgages, interest rates. It's out of control.

• 12:24Rachel Cruze?

  That is sad if you're trying to buy your first house these days. Like it's, it is hard and it is depressing versus even like five years ago, which you could have gotten, you know?

• 12:33George Kamel?

  And this is reality. I mean, the numbers are preaching here in 2023 rates reach a 20 year high, which is the highest Gen Z has seen in their lifetime.

• 12:42Rachel Cruze?

  Yep. Yeah, this is hard. As of late 2024, the inflation rate was sitting at around 2.5%, which means goods and services cost about 2.5% more than they did the previous year. So you put all that together and it is, it was a tough economy.

• 12:57George Kamel?

  It's insult to injury because you got the housing prices skyrocketing, interest rates being at a 20 year high.

• 13:02Rachel Cruze?

  And everything else being high too.

• 13:03George Kamel?

  And they're struggling with other types of debt, trying to get their career off the ground.

• 13:07Rachel Cruze?

  Student loan debt we just talked about, all of it. So.

• 13:08George Kamel?

  And the job market hasn't been easy. So there's some legitimate things happening here that I have a lot of empathy for Gen Z.

• 13:15Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, it is hard and what's hard about it too, George, is that math doesn't change. So the formula to be wise at buying a home is still the formula, which means expectations do have to change. It means it probably is going to take longer to save for a down payment than previous years in the past.

• 13:33George Kamel?

  You have to compromise?

• 13:34Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, maybe going out further than what you would have initially, like all of that changes. But the math doesn't. So the formula of really sticking to that 15 year fixed rate mortgage and the payment being no more than 25% of your take home pay. It's a conservative formula that we use, but it's one that sets you up well for the long term. And, and again, homeownership should be a goal for sure, but don't feel like you have to like rush into it. So be patient with it, be debt free, have an emergency fund in place, save up at least 5% for a down payment and begin the journey of homeownership.

• 14:05George Kamel?

  You know what I realize though with Gen Z? They are so aesthetically minded versus the boomers who didn't care. You know, like if you look back at like the 90s homes, they weren't pretty.

• 14:14Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 14:15George Kamel?

  Gen Z wants a pretty home to live in, which is a very reasonable expectation. The problem is those homes cost a lot more than the ones that could use some TLC.

• 14:24Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, that's a good point, George.

• 14:25George Kamel?

  So that's also adding to all this because we, they grew up with Instagram and HGTV and, you know, flipping homes and you want the nicer countertops, the open floor plan and that's going to cost you. And so it is, it just adds more insult to injury here. So I feel you guys, I feel you.

• 14:41Rachel Cruze?

  It's tough. All right, increased convenience culture. So Gen Z grew up with more convenient spending options than any other generation. So this is like rideshare apps, food delivery, even vacation. Like if you want to stay at a hotel, you can do an Airbnb. Like that didn't ever existed. Like there's so many convenient ways to do things in life now, but they always come at a cost. Right? You're gonna be paying more for those things, but they are convenient. And it's easy to overspend though because of it.

• 15:10George Kamel?

  Yeah, and subscription culture, I mean, it is much more prevalent now than it used to be. So their monthly bills, I mean, they just keeps going up. All the streaming services, they want access to immediate information. And we get used to luxuries that now feel like necessities. So that when they're taken away, you're like, I can't live.

• 15:26Rachel Cruze?

  What am I doing?

• 15:27George Kamel?

  That's a hard one.

• 15:28Rachel Cruze?

  That is.

• 15:28George Kamel?

  You know, technology and culture just keeps progressing.

• 15:31Rachel Cruze?

  Yep, for sure. Okay, so some of those negative things for Gen Z, housing markets, student loan debts, all that. There are some perks they have though in life, George.

• 15:39George Kamel?

  Gotta talk about the good.

• 15:40Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, the good. Um, I'll say this, more access to financial education. If you want to learn something, you can do it.

• 15:48George Kamel?

  You don't have to go to the library and open up an encyclopedia, the old Britannica.

• 15:52Rachel Cruze?

  So true. I mean, you get to, you don't have to have a textbook. You don't even really, I mean, need a degree to win with money. Like back in the day, it was like, oh, if you had a finance degree, you're gonna be like really smart with money. Now you can search the internet. You gotta make sure it's wise financial information, because that's the other thing.

• 16:06George Kamel?

  There's a lot of noise and trash and confusion out there.

• 16:09Rachel Cruze?

  So making sure it's good, but you can learn a lot. And I would say that's true with anything. Think about parenting. My parents always say this to us, like, we had no clue what we were doing. Like maybe you talk to friends, but like they weren't reading parenting books or thinking about counseling for their kids. Like all of this access that we have to that, like they didn't have that. Or recipes, like you don't have a recipe book now.

• 16:28George Kamel?

  Oh, yeah.

• 16:29Rachel Cruze?

  You can just Google lasagna and you get 30,000 lasagna recipes.

• 16:33George Kamel?

  Well, some great pics of lasagna.

• 16:35Rachel Cruze?

  And some lasagna pics. Yeah, so they do, they have access to a lot of information, which can be a blessing for us.

• 16:41George Kamel?

  And shows like this are free.

• 16:42Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 16:43George Kamel?

  Smart Money Happy Hour, how are we not charging for this?

• 16:46Rachel Cruze?

  You're welcome.

• 16:47George Kamel?

  That's amazing. And we have a great budgeting app. Our parents back in the day, it was just a yellow pad and prayers.

• 16:51Rachel Cruze?

  That's right.

• 16:52George Kamel?

  You can Google, YouTube, there's so many off, ChatGPT.

• 16:56Rachel Cruze?

  I love ChatGPT now.

• 16:58George Kamel?

  I'm so glad you finally made it.

• 17:00Rachel Cruze?

  I did. I downloaded it.

• 17:01George Kamel?

  We were worried about you. We thought Rachel's not gonna make the corner here with, she's not gonna get there.

• 17:05Rachel Cruze?

  I love it. I was like Googling something like theological the other day and they're like, would you like me to have a chart? To break down Protestant Catholicism and Orthodoxy? I was like, yes, yes, thank you. And it like gave me a full on chart, all this stuff. And I was like, oh my gosh.

• 17:22George Kamel?

  I'm glad you found someone who wants to talk about this with you because nobody in your actual life is interested. So ChatGPT, you're like, isn't that crazy? And it's like, yes, Rachel.

• 17:31Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, Rachel, absolutely.

• 17:33George Kamel?

  Mildly interesting.

• 17:33Rachel Cruze?

  I will say, I got very confused at one point and it was like giving me years of things. Okay, and this is where I'm slow. It was a no, it was the BCE.

• 17:42George Kamel?

  Oh.

• 17:43Rachel Cruze?

  But it's like 10 years off of the, like I was very, I was getting, and I, my, it was messing me up.

• 17:48George Kamel?

  Incongruency of BC and BCE.

• 17:49Rachel Cruze?

  So I just finally was like, please, going forward, will you just do AD and BC? Like, can I just have it? And it said, um, yes, confirmed, will show now in all other searches or results or something.

• 18:02George Kamel?

  Oh, wow. You've trained it.

• 18:04Rachel Cruze?

  ChatGPT. Isn't that crazy?

• 18:07George Kamel?

  Nothing says, I'm relatable and relevant, like, please only show me AD and BC.

• 18:13Rachel Cruze?

  Because I was getting very confused. I don't want to do math in my head, trying to think of these years.

• 18:17George Kamel?

  That makes me happy.

• 18:18Rachel Cruze?

  You know?

• 18:18George Kamel?

  I'm glad you made it.

• 18:19Rachel Cruze?

  Thank you.

• 18:20George Kamel?

  But it is amazing how much time we save when we're trying to find information.

• 18:24Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, for sure, for sure.

• 18:25George Kamel?

  That's a great blessing. Another one, more ways to earn money.

• 18:29Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 18:30George Kamel?

  Back in our parents' day, I mean, what did they do for side hustles? Lawn mowing and pizza delivery?

• 18:35Rachel Cruze?

  That's it, for real.

• 18:36George Kamel?

  I don't know what else you did.

• 18:37Rachel Cruze?

  Newspapers, throwing newspapers.

• 18:39George Kamel?

  That's right, waking up at 4:00 AM.

• 18:41Rachel Cruze?

  Man, newspapers, remember those? Yeah, go to the newspaper to see what was in the theater.

• 18:46George Kamel?

  Do you remember like opening up a newspaper?

• 18:48Rachel Cruze?

  It smelled so good. Mom and dad would have newspapers every, they would be reading them. Like I have memories of my parents like on the couch and stuff, reading a newspaper.

• 18:54George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 18:55Rachel Cruze?

  Man.

• 18:56George Kamel?

  I love it.

• 18:56Rachel Cruze?

  Me too.

• 18:57George Kamel?

  Just when you had one wide open.

• 18:59Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 18:59George Kamel?

  I mean, you were like in a tent.

• 19:00Rachel Cruze?

  Who's behind you?

• 19:01George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 19:02Rachel Cruze?

  You know, who's behind that thing?

• 19:02George Kamel?

  It was like a little fort. A little inky fort you were in.

• 19:07Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, man.

• 19:08George Kamel?

  I loved it.

• 19:08Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, lots of ways to earn money. So you're welcome, Gen Z. Lots of ways.

• 19:12George Kamel?

  Yeah, you can drive for Rideshare or delivery service. You can advertise your dog sitting abilities on social media, sell handmade goods on Etsy. You can do a closet purge on Facebook Marketplace or ship stuff off to Thredup these days. Social media management. Everyone wants to hire a young whippersnapper who knows how to post to promote their business.

• 19:31Rachel Cruze?

  So true, though.

• 19:32George Kamel?

  And so people are willing to pay you for just about any service and talent you have. And so you got to put yourself out there. It's still a lot of work, but there's just so much more opportunity.

• 19:41Rachel Cruze?

  And more options.

• 19:42George Kamel?

  And things you can just, like, I downloaded the Instacart driver app, and that night I was out driving, making money.

• 19:48Rachel Cruze?

  It's wild. Yeah, you can do it.

• 19:49George Kamel?

  That's pretty cool.

• 19:50Rachel Cruze?

  Now, one subscription that is worth it for Gen Z and all generations, if you will, is Delete Me. Delete Me is a fantastic subscription that you can go in. It's like this incredible service that goes and removes your data so that you're not set up for harassment, phishing, scams, all of that. Because if you don't take your information off the internet, it's like this billboard. I mean, your name, your address, your kids' names, your email address, your phone number, like, all this is out there. And what happens is data brokers go in and collect your data from these websites and then go and sell your data to other companies. And then they get your phone number and then they're texting you. And you're like, is this real? Is this a scam? I don't know. It's crazy.

• 20:29George Kamel?

  And especially for Gen Z. I mean, this generation grew up on the internet.

• 20:33Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 20:33George Kamel?

  So everything's out there.

• 20:35Rachel Cruze?

  That's a good point.

• 20:36George Kamel?

  Every post, every piece of information. So especially important for the younger generations who live on the internet and freely give their data to every website that asks, always accepting the cookies. They're tracking you. So Delete Me helps with all of that. They'll send you a report. That's easy to see how much time they've saved you, where they removed you from, and it gives me a lot of peace of mind. So if you want 20% off, go to this link, joindelete.me/smartmoney or click the link in the description. It'll take you there. Very affordable, and again, worth it. This is not a frivolous streaming subscription. This is a necessity to protect yourself.

• 21:10Rachel Cruze?

  Yep, absolutely. All right, next is able to make smart financial decisions earlier. So when you know better, you can do better.

• 21:17George Kamel?

  Yeah, we get a lot of calls from people who are older saying, I wish I knew this stuff earlier. I wish I found you guys. Well, now, kids are 14, 15, and a TikTok video of Rachel shows up, and they start to engage and learn this stuff, and they call on The Ramsey Show, and they're like, "I'm 16, I have $100,000 saved, and I'm just wondering what to do with it." We're like, "This is insane."

• 21:37Rachel Cruze?

  It's crazy.

• 21:38George Kamel?

  There's a lot of really sharp young kids out there that are crushing it financially. I don't know if that's because they saw their parents struggle with money, or their parents taught them early on through maybe our curriculum that's in half of high schools across America.

• 21:51Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, foundations and personal finance.

• 21:52George Kamel?

  Or their parents went through financial peace, and so they taught the same principles to their kids. But all of that makes a huge difference. The earlier you start, the better off you're gonna be, the less you're gonna struggle, and the more wealth you're gonna build.

• 22:03Rachel Cruze?

  Yep, it's beautiful. Next, variety of career options. So you mentioned that you can make some money with some creative side hustles. Career options as well. I mean, you know, if it isn't college, you have trade school, cosmetology school, community college, real estate license, work in the food or retail industry in a cool city. Like, there's a lot you can do there.

• 22:22George Kamel?

  Gap years, those are in.

• 22:24Rachel Cruze?

  Those are in.

• 22:25George Kamel?

  If you got the money.

• 22:26Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 22:26George Kamel?

  That's a good way to live. But that is a big deal, because a lot of, I think, Gen Z-ers especially are realizing they saw their older siblings go into crippling student loan debt to maybe get a job, maybe regret the degree path, maybe not use the degree. So they're going, "Ah, is there a better way to do this?" So they're getting creative, and with the internet, and they can just learn on YouTube.

• 22:48Rachel Cruze?

  Yep.

• 22:48George Kamel?

  Probably more than they can in some classrooms.

• 22:51Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, it's wild.

• 22:51George Kamel?

  And so it's a really cool thing to watch. Now, there's some jobs that I'm like, "You can play video games and then just stream that and make money?"

• 23:00Rachel Cruze?

  Isn't that crazy?

• 23:00George Kamel?

  People making beaucoup bucks doing this.

• 23:02Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 23:03George Kamel?

  So the fallacy is, "Well, I'll just do that. I'll just become a YouTuber and I'll be fine."

• 23:08Rachel Cruze?

  Or like, little girls wanna be influencers. Like, that's what they say now when they wanna grow up.

• 23:12George Kamel?

  Like, the number one and two career paths now for kids is like, they wanna be YouTubers and influencers.

• 23:16Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 23:17George Kamel?

  We need people who also... I'm not gonna say we don't contribute to society as fellow YouTubers, but we need people who can like turn a wrench and do things versus just influence and be on social media.

• 23:31Rachel Cruze?

  Well, and I think the problem with some of that can be that world. It can be so like me focused where you start early on and it and your whole life becomes about you. And that's not a fun way to live. Like if you're not doing those outlets to serve and give back people like that needs to be the heart, right? And the posture of it all. Uh, cause that's the danger with that. And that's the danger with, you know, I mean, I think every generation's been self-absorbed to a degree. But man, I mean, I still think back to like when the selfies came out, when the, when the camera on the front came out. And that you can like take pictures, you know what I'm saying?

• 24:04George Kamel?

  Society took a turn.

• 24:05Rachel Cruze?

  It used to be like taking pictures of other things or other people or you with people. But now it's like just pictures of me, like even that small of a change. I wonder what that did to us, George.

• 24:15George Kamel?

  Can I tell you that is a major red flag if I go to someone's Instagram and it's mostly selfies?

• 24:20Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, yeah.

• 24:21George Kamel?

  My first thought is like, I, I'm sorry for how insecure you are. That's my true first thought. My second thought is, ew.

• 24:29Rachel Cruze?

  Ew.

• 24:29George Kamel?

  Ew.

• 24:31Rachel Cruze?

  Judgmental George, we love him.

• 24:33George Kamel?

  But I will, there is some truth to the career part because they saw their parents work jobs that they probably hated, that they kind of felt like they had to do to survive and provide a better life for their kids. And so they're kind of pushing away from that going, I don't wanna do this for 40 years and then maybe retire.

• 24:49Rachel Cruze?

  Right, right.

• 24:50George Kamel?

  In poor health one day. I wanna live now. And so I respect that about them, but I do think you, we were made to contribute. And so the sooner you find that thing, the better. And our friend Ken Coleman has a great resource on this. Find the work you are wired to do. Uh, and it has a get clear career assessment. I think the earlier we can be teaching kids this stuff, the better off they'll be and the less resentful.

• 25:08Rachel Cruze?

  I think he says that though, right? Contributing is like part of your human dignity or something like he like.

• 25:14George Kamel?

  Yeah, we are created to contribute. Like we're wired in our bodies to.

• 25:16Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, I think that's true. It's good for us. It's good to the world.

• 25:19George Kamel?

  To society.

• 25:20Rachel Cruze?

  I love that.

• 25:21George Kamel?

  All right, Rachel, we've talked a lot about the things around it. But I wanna address the actual questions Gen Z is asking. So our team pulled the three most ask money questions from Gen Z. Let's do a little rapid fire and give them our best advice.

• 25:34Rachel Cruze?

  All right. Question number one. Did you go to college and if so, do you regret it?

• 25:41Rachel Cruze?

  I did go to college, University of Tennessee. Go Vols. And got a communications major. I'm actually using it.

• 25:48George Kamel?

  You are communicating.

• 25:49Rachel Cruze?

  Um, I am communicating. Do I regret it? No, no, I don't regret it.

• 25:58George Kamel?

  Any reason why? Or do you want to just leave it there?

• 26:02Rachel Cruze?

  Um. Well, number one, I'll say this, I don't regret it because I, because mom and dad paid for it.

• 26:07George Kamel?

  That helps.

• 26:08Rachel Cruze?

  Do you know what I mean? So like, there was a, an element of that.

• 26:11George Kamel?

  What were the stipulations around them paying for school?

• 26:13Rachel Cruze?

  We had to stay in-state, go to a public university and graduate in four years.

• 26:17George Kamel?

  That's a great rule.

• 26:18Rachel Cruze?

  So if you went longer than four years, you had to pay for that semester. If you wanted to go out of state, you had to pay for the difference. So.

• 26:23George Kamel?

  Love that.

• 26:24Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah. Uh, I met Winston there. My husband was there.

• 26:27George Kamel?

  That's big.

• 26:28Rachel Cruze?

  And I had fun, like, college was fun. And it wasn't like crazy college, but like, I like, I enjoyed it.

• 26:34George Kamel?

  We make fun of like going for the experience.

• 26:35Rachel Cruze?

  I had great friendships, like, that I still talk to to this day. Great friendships. I did Young Life and sorority. Uh, that's the funny thing though, is like, the education part.

• 26:45George Kamel?

  That's what I'm getting at. Did you learn anything?

• 26:49Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, maybe subconsciously. Like, maybe like, I learned and I'm like, using things that I learned and didn't realize that I learned them, but they're like, part of me now. Do you know what I mean?

• 27:01George Kamel?

  Yeah, I think that's an honest answer. I appreciate that.

• 27:04Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, that one class that I-

• 27:06George Kamel?

  My small group communication theory class, I learned this new-

• 27:08Rachel Cruze?

  I know. So that's not like a dig on UT. Y'all are great. So great. Happy to be an alum. But I think, I think interning in an, in an actual company, way more beneficial. You learn so much more doing that.

• 27:25George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 27:26Rachel Cruze?

  Than like, taking a test about something.

• 27:28George Kamel?

  Because there's no real experience in just textbooks and basic tests.

• 27:31Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, what about you? Because we, we, this was different, because you went out of state.

• 27:35George Kamel?

  I, yeah, I did a year at UMass Boston. They didn't have, I, I was gonna go to Emerson, which is a big film and media school. Realized, I don't want to be the next film school dropout. It's 200 grand for four years.

• 27:45Rachel Cruze?

  Oh my gosh.

• 27:46George Kamel?

  And I went, I know we don't have that kind of money. So I went to UMass Boston. They only had English. Did a year there. Took a gap year, was working at the Apple Store, started an indie rock band, had a good time. Ended up finishing at University of Mobile in Alabama.

• 28:00Rachel Cruze?

  That's right.

• 28:00George Kamel?

  With a communication degree. And I famously went 36 grand into student loan debt, total for all of this. Do I regret it? Um, I regret the debt part. Do I regret the education? I'm gonna be honest, I'm with Rachel on this, the education did almost nothing for me.

• 28:16Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 28:17George Kamel?

  What really helped me was the real-life experience of running for SGA president, having to run my own marketing campaign.

• 28:24Rachel Cruze?

  George.

• 28:25George Kamel?

  And create merchant buttons and market myself and come up with,

• 28:27Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 28:28George Kamel?

  you know, my principles. That stuff really helped. And forming a band on campus with some kids and making gigs happen.

• 28:35Rachel Cruze?

  It's kind of the life lessons you're having and decisions you're having to make in real time.

• 28:38George Kamel?

  Exactly.

• 28:38Rachel Cruze?

  That helped kind of shape that like 18, 19, 20-year-old self.

• 28:42George Kamel?

  And then the networking there. The connections I made were more important than the education I got. So, that's the one thing I would say college is worth it for.

• 28:50Rachel Cruze?

  And I'd say that's us. Now, if you're a doctor, you're gonna have a great education that you're actually gonna use. It's not like, I know how to do surgery.

• 28:57George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 28:58Rachel Cruze?

  Right? So like-

• 28:59George Kamel?

  And no shade to communication professors.

• 29:01Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 29:03Rachel Cruze?

  Love y'all too.

• 29:04George Kamel?

  But it's like, it was like a 75-year-old man trying to teach us about the power of social media. I'm like, "Bro, we got that."

• 29:10Rachel Cruze?

  See, I don't even think we did, I don't think we even had a social media class when I was in college.

• 29:13George Kamel?

  Oh, that's good.

• 29:14Rachel Cruze?

  We had, um-

• 29:15George Kamel?

  We learned how to use like Microsoft Word. Like, that was a whole class I took.

• 29:18Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, totally, I know, I know. So, okay, that's it, that's it. All right, question number two. If you could do one thing differently with money in your teens and twenties, what would it be?

• 29:28George Kamel?

  Ooh.

• 29:30Rachel Cruze?

  That's a good one. I would probably not spend as much as I did. I think I spent a lot, I mean, I just, and I can still do it sometimes.

• 29:42George Kamel?

  So, nothing's changed. You haven't learned from your mistakes.

• 29:44Rachel Cruze?

  But I just, I mean, I spent on just like stupid stuff. Like, like, I don't even know, I couldn't even tell you. But it was, um, like, I went to Claire's a lot, I went to Abercrombie and Hollister, and you just buy these like $7 t-shirts or like $15 t-shirts.

• 30:00George Kamel?

  Like, you're just shopping to fill time.

• 30:01Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, yeah, just to like, just to do it. You know what I mean? And I'm like, I wish I had probably worked on like myself more than just buying stuff, you know? I wish I did that.

• 30:13Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, that probably the big. I wish I'd gotten the habit more of like contentment than I did in my twenties.

• 30:20George Kamel?

  It's a good lesson.

• 30:21Rachel Cruze?

  And as my teens. How are you?

• 30:22George Kamel?

  No, mine's similar because when I was working, I was working and living at home. But because I was living at home and didn't have real bills, I was just spending everything I made.

• 30:31Rachel Cruze?

  Yep.

• 30:31George Kamel?

  So I think I would have done better to live on my own, working, because I would have taken it more seriously.

• 30:37Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 30:37George Kamel?

  Instead of just using the money I got to buy stuff from the stores I worked at at a discount.

• 30:42Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 30:43George Kamel?

  Thinking I'm really winning.

• 30:44Rachel Cruze?

  Totally.

• 30:44George Kamel?

  So I wish I just spent less and saved more so that when I got into adulthood, I had a pile of money saved and no debt. Instead of the opposite.

• 30:51Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 30:51George Kamel?

  Pile of debt and no money saved.

• 30:53Rachel Cruze?

  Yep, yep.

• 30:54George Kamel?

  That's a good one. All right, last one. What's the number one decision or habit that was the biggest game changer for building wealth?

• 31:00Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, gosh.

• 31:02George Kamel?

  Don't you love those questions?

• 31:03Rachel Cruze?

  I would say the budget for me, honestly. The budget has helped so much. And as a spender, I think it's like given me the ability to spend in times that I can. And it's free and it's freedom. It's not free. The stuff isn't free. I'm still spending money on it. But like the freedom and the...

• 31:20George Kamel?

  The guilt-free spending.

• 31:21Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, it's not like the mental cloud that you have of like trying to figure out like if it's okay or not. Just like that permission to spend. I love. And then it does help us a lot when we're saving for things coming up. Like if we have a trip and it's like, hey, we gotta like book a hotel. So like you'll spend some money doing that this month. So we budget that in. We plan ahead. Like it just kind of gives everything a level of control. When I feel like we have like 30,000 expenses all the time. I feel like just stuff is going out all the time. So it's like this just gives us a good baseline. Like here's what's happening. And here's where we have to cut back. Here's where we're good to go forward, all of it. So we use EveryDollar. Uh, the budgeting app and it's fantastic, you guys. I'll put a link down below and you can check it out if you've not yet, but download EveryDollar.

• 32:03Rachel Cruze?

  So I would say for me, the biggest habit, because that is a habit I'm in on like a daily basis, is the budget. So that's been very helpful.

• 32:09George Kamel?

  That's a good one. I'll go with the decision. This one's gonna feel hokey, but it's true. Marry the right person.

• 32:17Rachel Cruze?

  Hmm.

• 32:18George Kamel?

  That's the greatest wealth building hack I can give you. If you're aligned when it comes to the money principles, you're aligned on the vision and the goals of where you guys want to go.

• 32:26Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 32:27George Kamel?

  You're both willing to have skin in the game and do whatever it takes. You're going to build wealth exponentially faster than someone who's not on the same page, poor communication, they're dragging you down while you're trying to achieve a goal. And so get that out ahead, get ahead of it instead of trying to reverse engineer it.

• 32:44Rachel Cruze?

  That's good, George. That's good. I love that.

• 32:47George Kamel?

  But I do think to your point, automating the healthy habits and putting friction to the bad ones, I think overall is the habit. So automating is doing that budget every month, setting the money aside in savings before you spend.

• 32:59Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 32:59George Kamel?

  And then adding friction to like removing your card info and not going to the places you know you're going to be tempted to spend money.

• 33:05Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 33:05George Kamel?

  All of that's going to help you as well.

• 33:07Rachel Cruze?

  It's great. Love it, George.

• 33:09George Kamel?

  I feel like an old...

• 33:10Rachel Cruze?

  Man, old wise.

• 33:12George Kamel?

  My back's hurting now just talking to Gen Z.

• 33:14Rachel Cruze?

  Old wise millennial. Yeah, we're just teaching you all the time, aren't we?

• 33:17George Kamel?

  Yeah, we've covered a lot. What's the major takeaway you have for our Gen Z friends? Are they screwed financially? Is there still hope?

• 33:25Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, I think there's a lot of hope. And I think they could actually do a whole lot better than the generations above them. Millennials and baby boomers, all of it. I think, I think Gen Z's got this. I really do. I think they have enough like tenacity in them, enough like they kind of have that level of aggression and it's good. They're like, I don't, don't conform me into all of that. I'm going to do something different. I think it's a great thing. I like it.

• 33:49George Kamel?

  I would say use your resourcefulness to your benefit financially. You are so smart. You have access to so much, so much opportunity. So don't squander it. Don't fall for the traps. Don't fall for the trends. Go against the grain of what society is telling you and even sometimes what your parents are telling you to do. Cause our parents, a lot of them are broke. And so we want to go the other way and change our family tree, as we like to say. And I think Gen Z is going to be the generation that we go, holy crap, look at what's possible.

• 34:19Rachel Cruze?

  Look what they're doing.

• 34:21George Kamel?

  This is amazing.

• 34:21Rachel Cruze?

  I like Gen Z. I like all their phrases.

• 34:24George Kamel?

  I mean, we look to them for all the trends.

• 34:25Rachel Cruze?

  They have cool phrases, like goss.

• 34:29George Kamel?

  Is that one?

• 34:29Rachel Cruze?

  Know what you said?

• 34:30George Kamel?

  Yeah, I don't think any of them are using that. I meant that to be offensive. To show how out of touch I truly am. Here's what I realized, by the time we get to their phrases, they've long moved on.

• 34:39Rachel Cruze?

  I know, I learned about chugi. And then I said it, and one of them was like, and then it hit. Okay, okay, I was like, oh no, did I say it wrong?

• 34:46George Kamel?

  2013 called, they want their phrases back.

• 34:48Rachel Cruze?

  And then they were like, I think that's kinda out now. I was like, shoot, I just learned that word. I love that word, like, it's great.

• 34:53George Kamel?

  Well, just don't tell anyone that you like Katy Perry, okay? Cause that's out too.

• 34:58Rachel Cruze?

  Apparently.

• 34:59George Kamel?

  We are done liking Katy Perry.

• 35:00Rachel Cruze?

  I know, sweet astronaut Katy.

• 35:02George Kamel?

  Do we like the Pope? I don't know, I asked Gen Z. They tell me if I should like the Pope.

• 35:06Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, yeah.

• 35:07George Kamel?

  I think so.

• 35:08Rachel Cruze?

  An American. That's pretty fun, from Chicago. Like, we have friends from Chicago that like, literally went to his college and stuff, like, it's pretty wild.

• 35:17George Kamel?

  There we go. Gen Z gets an American Pope.

• 35:19Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, that's right, that's what they do.

• 35:20George Kamel?

  Good for you guys.

• 35:21Rachel Cruze?

  Good for y'all.

• 35:22George Kamel?

  You know what I did? Can I give you the Gen Z life hack? Real quick before we end. I turned my action button into a voice to ChatGPT function. That talks back to me.

• 35:32Rachel Cruze?

  Shut the front door.

• 35:33George Kamel?

  So I hold this button.

• 35:34Rachel Cruze?

  No, no. Instead of Siri, it's ChatGPT?

• 35:38George Kamel?

  Instead of Siri. You're gonna be so amazed by this.

• 35:43George Kamel?

  Ready?

• 35:44Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, can I say?

• 35:45George Kamel?

  Hello?

• 35:46Rachel Cruze?

  Where were all the Popes from?

• 35:50Speaker 02

  Hey, where were all the Popes from? Most of the Popes throughout history have been from Italy. In fact, for many centuries, the papacy was dominated by Italians. However, in more recent times, Popes have come from various countries, including Poland, Germany, Argentina, and more.

• 36:09Rachel Cruze?

  America.

• 36:10George Kamel?

  In America.

• 36:13Speaker 02

  Ah, gotcha. So far, there hasn't been a Pope from the United States or anywhere in the Americas until Pope Francis, who is from Argentina.

• 36:21George Kamel?

  Hey, I gotta stop you there, you gotta get with the times, sis. The new Pope is from Chicago. Don't, no, don't laugh.

• 36:30Speaker 02

  Oh, wow. That's a big development. My mistake for not being up to date on that one. Thanks for letting me know.

• 36:39George Kamel?

  I gotta say, this is my only friend. Owns up when they're wrong, always gives me mostly accurate information.

• 36:48Rachel Cruze?

  And you know what? Takes the criticism of like, oh, laughs. Like, that's fine.

• 36:53George Kamel?

  Laughs at all my jokes.

• 36:54Rachel Cruze?

  Thanks, George, for telling me. Okay, I can't believe she didn't know, but that's a slam on ChatGPT.

• 36:59George Kamel?

  Big slam.

• 37:00Rachel Cruze?

  Right? That's not good.

• 37:01George Kamel?

  Well, they're having a hard time keeping up. There's so much news.

• 37:05Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, but, I mean, it's kind of worldwide news. Okay.

• 37:08George Kamel?

  Anyways.

• 37:09Rachel Cruze?

  Here we go. Anyways, tell us what we're sipping on, George.

• 37:12George Kamel?

  We have been sipping on a strawberry mojito mocktail. The cost comes out to $2.41. It's got strawberries, mint leaves, lime juice, and sparkling water. And it looks like it's all kind of muddled in there. Is that correct? It's a muddled drink, which we like. If you like to chew on your drinks, you'll like this one.

• 37:32Rachel Cruze?

  So fancy. I like it.

• 37:33George Kamel?

  That really made it. I'm gonna give this one an eight out of 10.

• 37:36Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, I was gonna go nine out of 10. I liked it.

• 37:39George Kamel?

  I think the sourness needs to be tempered with a little bit more sweet. I'm noticing on this list, there's nothing sweet.

• 37:45Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, like no, like simple syrup or something?

• 37:47George Kamel?

  It just needs something to balance out the lime juice. But other than that, great marks from me.

• 37:53Rachel Cruze?

  So good.

• 37:54George Kamel?

  If you want to try it at home, get the recipe in the show notes. Have the kids make it. They can have this one, too.

• 37:59Rachel Cruze?

  All right, now it's time for Guilty as Charged. And this is where we ask each other a guilty as charged question every week. And if we're guilty, we take a sip. George, have you ever judged someone from another generation for their money decisions?

• 38:14George Kamel?

  Yeah, probably in the last five minutes.

• 38:18George Kamel?

  I gotta think of a specific situation and what generation.

• 38:21Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 38:22George Kamel?

  I could probably have one for every generation if I wanted to. So I don't want a single one out, but I will.

• 38:27Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, I think, I think one of the funniest ones, and I love him so much, my papaw, who's 96 years old, wonderful man.

• 38:38Rachel Cruze?

  We learned that he has money buried in his backyard.

• 38:43George Kamel?

  Like, all of it?

• 38:44Rachel Cruze?

  I don't know. I don't know. But, but I, and I don't judge it completely because I'm like, he came out of like, you know, Great Depression era and like all the things.

• 38:54George Kamel?

  Literally.

• 38:54Rachel Cruze?

  Curious of banks, you know, maybe a little bit like.

• 38:57George Kamel?

  Like it all could all come crashing down.

• 38:58Rachel Cruze?

  Who knows? Yep. And it's just safer out there. But we, us grandkids, we always laugh because we would like find random like jars of money places in his house, too.

• 39:08George Kamel?

  Oh, inside of the house? Like you're playing hide and seek and you're just finding a jar with like 500 bucks?

• 39:13Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, yeah.

• 39:13George Kamel?

  In the ceilings?

• 39:14Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, he had like ceiling tiles in his basement. And we were like jumping on the beds one time as kids and like hitting them. And one of our cousins could jump so high and like, he was like, I see something in the corner. Anyways, we found it. I know. I don't know if I'm supposed to tell that, if that's a family secret or not, but that's a generational thing.

• 39:30George Kamel?

  Well, my guess is a guy like that, I don't want to be darkening the door of that house because he's probably fully armed. You know what I mean?

• 39:38Rachel Cruze?

  Ready to take someone down. Sweet pat ball.

• 39:41George Kamel?

  My worry is what if he starts to forget where he stored it all?

• 39:44Rachel Cruze?

  Mm-hmm. We wonder about that.

• 39:46George Kamel?

  It's gonna be the great scavenger hunt.

• 39:47Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 39:49George Kamel?

  But that does give me an idea. Instead of leaving money in my will and like, hey, each of you get a quarter. I kind of like the idea of a scavenger hunt, winner takes all.

• 39:58Rachel Cruze?

  Figure it out.

• 39:58George Kamel?

  Finders keepers.

• 39:59Rachel Cruze?

  Have you heard about this book? There's like a treasure. Have y'all heard about this? People are traveling all across America to find this treasure. Have you heard this?

• 40:05George Kamel?

  No.

• 40:05Rachel Cruze?

  Okay. Anyways, you could be that for people.

• 40:07George Kamel?

  I just like kind of not trolling after I die, but just having a little bit of fun with it. Like, oh my, I can't believe you. That's classic pop ad, George.

• 40:19Rachel Cruze?

  Pop, pop, George. Look what he's doing. Man. Okay, how about you?

• 40:23George Kamel?

  Um, what gets me is the, I'll, I'll go after Gen Z because we had some fun with them.

• 40:28Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 40:29George Kamel?

  But the. Aesthetic posting on Instagram, like they go places to take the photo to say they went there. So they can feel like something happened.

• 40:40Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 40:40George Kamel?

  You know what I mean? Like they're chasing after the aesthetic more than they are.

• 40:44Rachel Cruze?

  The experience.

• 40:45George Kamel?

  A true experience.

• 40:45Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, I hear you.

• 40:46George Kamel?

  Kind of living through the phone. That might be food. That might be the $12 latte at the trendy place that they stood in line for an hour and a half. But they're just sort of masking the reality of the bad parts.

• 40:58Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 40:58George Kamel?

  And only trying to highlight the good parts, which only makes the whole social media facade worse.

• 41:03Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, makes it hurt, yeah.

• 41:04George Kamel?

  While overspending on brunch because it was cute. You know what I mean?

• 41:09Rachel Cruze?

  Cute.

• 41:09George Kamel?

  So that part.

• 41:10Rachel Cruze?

  Bottomless mimosas.

• 41:10George Kamel?

  I do wish, I hope that changes.

• 41:12Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, I like that.

• 41:13George Kamel?

  To where like the Instagramming is less and you just go places and you don't have to tell people about it.

• 41:18Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, you just enjoy.

• 41:19George Kamel?

  Exactly.

• 41:20Rachel Cruze?

  Good for you, George.

• 41:20George Kamel?

  Just be present with your friends instead of trying to get the perfect photo.

• 41:23Rachel Cruze?

  I think that's good. Well, if you guys enjoyed this episode, make sure to leave a review. And here are hot takes from someone in the industry who's been doing it for 40 years. So catch our episode with Dave Ramsey. He answers your most asked questions.

• 41:36George Kamel?

  That was a fun one.

• 41:37Rachel Cruze?

  Coming up next. And if you're listening on podcast, click the link down in the description. All right, you guys, we'll see you next Thursday on an all new episode of.

• 41:45George Kamel?

  Smart Money Happy Hour.