Warren Buffett Retires, Powell Holds Rates, & GDP Turns Negative
You’ve heard the headlines, but we’re here to break down what they really mean for your wallet. In this episode, Warren Buffett officially announces his retirement as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Jerome Powell leaves rates untouched (again), and America’s GDP takes a nose dive into negative territory. Meanwhile, the media spins, Wall Street panics, and your buddy on Instagram who just discovered ETFs is suddenly an "economic expert." Don’t worry, we’ve got the real story—served fresh, with a side of wit and sarcasm.
➡️ But that’s not all. We’re diving into the housing market that still refuses to correct, student loan garnishments that are coming for your paycheck, and why UPS is laying off 20,000 people after parting ways with Amazon. Oh, and AI is officially eating white-collar jobs for breakfast—so there’s that. Grab your favorite overpriced latte, sit back, and let Chris and Saied help you navigate the chaos with facts, jokes, and just enough cynicism to keep it fun. Welcome to The Higher Standard.
💥 Have you left your "honest ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️" review?
👕 THS MERCH: http://www.thspod.com
🔗 Resources:
Q1 GDP Goes Negative On Imports Surge (Yahoo! Finance via Instagram)
Existing homes sales are at multi-decade low (Nick Gerli via X)
UPS to Cut 20,000 Jobs After Amazon Breakup (Wall Street Journal)
Warren Buffett is not retiring for good as Berkshire board votes to keep him as chairman (CNBC)
⚠️ Disclaimer: Please note that the content shared on this show is solely for entertainment purposes and should not be considered legal or investment advice or attributed to any company. The views and opinions expressed are personal and not reflective of any entity. We do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided, and listeners are urged to seek professional advice before making any legal or financial decisions. By listening to The Higher Standard podcast you agree to these terms, and the show, its hosts and employees are not liable for any consequences arising from your use of the content.
Transcript
Been a while since we did a back to.
Speaker B:Back to back.
Speaker A:Going back to back.
Speaker B:Well, it's not a traditional back to back.
Speaker B:It's a inaugural session.
Speaker A:It is.
Speaker B:Welcome home, Saeed.
Speaker B:Welcome back home.
Speaker A:Back to the number one financial literacy podcast in the world.
Speaker A:I don't even know where to look.
Speaker A:Do I look here?
Speaker A:Do I look there?
Speaker B:You look at the camera.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:This is the higher standard.
Speaker A:Sitting in front of me is my partner in crime, Christopher Nahibi.
Speaker B:Good observation.
Speaker B:Sitting in front of me is my partner in time.
Speaker B:The one and only side, Omar.
Speaker A:Thank you, my man.
Speaker A:And sitting behind the ones and twos, we have nobody.
Speaker B:It's actually labeled the desk now.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:Oh, the desk.
Speaker A:Sitting behind the desk.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I like it.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Because unfortunately, it's not a DJ booth, because we have no dj.
Speaker A:That's right.
Speaker B:Have you?
Speaker B:I don't know if you notice this.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:The acoustics in here sound different.
Speaker A:No, no, no, I have.
Speaker A:It's remarkable.
Speaker A:It's remarkable what you have done in here.
Speaker A:Along with.
Speaker A:We got to give a special shout out to our guy.
Speaker A:Rail.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Hooked it up, man.
Speaker A:Special shout out.
Speaker A:He's put in a lot of time and effort to help you out and help us out.
Speaker B:And I'm gonna be honest, I consider replacing you.
Speaker A:I mean, you should have.
Speaker A:Minus 100.
Speaker B:I was gonna do it and just call him, say you see if anybody noticed.
Speaker A:Oh, man.
Speaker A:Well, Rigil, we appreciate you very much.
Speaker B:Very much so.
Speaker B:As a matter of fact, Rajille may be the new rune, depending on availability, time, and scheduling, but.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I don't want you to be challenged by his Fijianness.
Speaker A:Just Fijian.
Speaker B:Because it's made up where it's real.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I would have never known.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I did not know it wasn't for you.
Speaker B:Like someone saying I'm Glamanian.
Speaker B:What?
Speaker B:You're.
Speaker B:You're what now?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So today was Fed Day.
Speaker B:Mm.
Speaker B:While most of America was glued to their chairs going, oh, my God, are they going to cut rates?
Speaker B:I think everybody who was really in the know was going, you know what?
Speaker B:They're not only not going to cut rates, but you get a message saying they're going to wait and see.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Oh, my God.
Speaker B:You got a message saying they're going to wait and see.
Speaker A:They did say we're going to wait and see.
Speaker A:We're going to be data dependent again.
Speaker A:But this time in the postgame press conference, he did not rule out the possibility of a rate cut at the next meeting.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But he also didn't Commit to anything.
Speaker B:So, no.
Speaker A:But the last meeting, he actually ruled it out.
Speaker A:He's like, nah, it's too early to tell.
Speaker A:We most likely won't.
Speaker A:He basically told everybody ahead of time, we won't.
Speaker A:This time he left all the options open.
Speaker A:Again.
Speaker A:Okay, this is what he does.
Speaker B:Anticipating this type of conversation from you, I decided that in the show notes, I was going to compare the last press release to the new press release.
Speaker A:Oh, I like that you did this.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:And because I did this, I know that you were reading into this way too much, really.
Speaker B:So other than the word recent, which started the press release where it started originally, last time they had this press conference, said recent indicators suggest they change it to say, although swings in net exports have affected the data, recent indicators suggest not a meaningful change.
Speaker B:Further on, they added stuff like the word further.
Speaker B:Ooh, big change.
Speaker B:And then in this paragraph, this is interesting, the committee is attentive to the risks of both sides of its dual mandate.
Speaker B:And then they added this and judges the risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation have risen.
Speaker B:Thank you, Captain Obvious.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker B:I appreciate.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Thank you for you being so perceptive of the risks in the market.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And outside of that, they deleted a paragraph which had no value, and they added Neel Kashkari in as an alternate member.
Speaker B:In this particular meeting.
Speaker B:They gave him a seat at the big boy table.
Speaker B:That being said, that's the only difference in what they said last time and what they said this time.
Speaker A:Well, yeah, well, that's the prepared version.
Speaker A:And then the real meat that everyone likes to.
Speaker A:Yeah, the real meat.
Speaker A:Oh, there's a guy in the.
Speaker A:In the NBA who last night, by the way, one of my son's favorite players hit a game winner and he did this.
Speaker A:Sam Cassell, Big cajones celebration.
Speaker A:No, no, no, no, no.
Speaker A:Yes, you.
Speaker A:Yes, you are.
Speaker A:Because we've had this conversation before.
Speaker A:You said you were familiar before.
Speaker A:Anyways.
Speaker A:And already knowing he'd get fined and he did it anyways because he hit a game winner in the.
Speaker A:In the playoffs.
Speaker B:Imagine making so much money, you're like, you know what?
Speaker B:I'm going to make a really obscene gesture right now.
Speaker A:$25,000 fine guaranteed.
Speaker B:It's going to cost me 25 grand.
Speaker A:I mean, arguably should be more because it's the playoffs and more viewers.
Speaker B:I don't think they're fine.
Speaker B:Based on the viewers, I guess based on the activity.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like if you punch somebody in the face, front of 100.
Speaker A:I mean, this is.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's a bigger Stage right.
Speaker A:It's like, for instance, saying something very bad, like in the workplace setting and then saying something very bad on an earnings call.
Speaker B:Oh, okay.
Speaker B:So again, using that same logic to apply to the show, I'd be finding you $2.50 every time you said something you should say.
Speaker B:Is that what I'm saying now?
Speaker A:Yeah, pretty much so in.
Speaker A:In the Q and A portion of the post game press conference for Jerome Powell, the qua.
Speaker B:For my mind homies out there.
Speaker A:Yeah, the qua.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker A:What he said was, in previous meetings, we don't like to guess, we don't like to speculate, we don't like to assume, we like to rely on data.
Speaker A:That's what we like to do.
Speaker A:Wouldn't you say that?
Speaker A:Would you agree?
Speaker B:I'm reserving judgment for wherever the punchline is here.
Speaker A:I'm trying to get you.
Speaker A:Come on.
Speaker A:And then this time around, and like he has been hinting at for a lot of the Fed speak that he's been going around saying, it's very difficult.
Speaker B:For you to look me in the eyes while you're doing this.
Speaker A:This is very off.
Speaker A:This is a.
Speaker A:This is aggressive.
Speaker B:It is aggressive.
Speaker A:Ye.
Speaker B:It's like, I can grill you now.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Get into you.
Speaker A:He came out right out the gate and said that tariffs are inflationary and we want to wait and see how it impacts the economy.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:Yeah, but okay, look, first of all, first and foremost, tariffs have always been inflationary.
Speaker B:We knew this going into this.
Speaker B:This is nothing new.
Speaker B:So if that was revolutionary or new information, anybody listening to the show, then obviously we've done a terrible job of teaching people because that you knew that going in.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:We also know that.
Speaker A:Oh, wait, but if you say that, then that means.
Speaker A:Then you agree with him on holding rates.
Speaker B:Yeah, 100%.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:That was the right thing to do.
Speaker B:I think your first real shot at a rate cut is probably July.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:I know that some people.
Speaker A:The next meeting is in June.
Speaker B:June, yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah, there's a June meeting.
Speaker B:July meeting.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So do I think that there's going to be a rate cut anytime before July?
Speaker B:Probably slim.
Speaker B:Slim at best.
Speaker B:And I think that there's going to be a bit of a pissing match.
Speaker B:So the Fed is going to look at data.
Speaker B:Data is typically in large part a lagging indicator.
Speaker B:And right now, if you look at the job numbers, it came out strong.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Inflation seems to be falling in line.
Speaker B:I'm not seeing anything to write home about and go, oh my God, things are out of control.
Speaker A:I Know, and the GDP print, although we did experience a contraction, according to the data, it was only negative 0.3%.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:So again, to.
Speaker B:To my point, not to your point, there was not a meaningful change here.
Speaker B:As a matter of fact, the one meaningful thing that got very little coverage in the actual FOMC Q A was the one thing we should all be talking about, which is GDP came in negative, baby.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:This is according to Yahoo.
Speaker B:Finance.
Speaker B:The negative GDP data report Wednesday was really all about one thing.
Speaker B:Imports.
Speaker A:So wait, hold on.
Speaker A:What are you gonna do now?
Speaker A:Is it going?
Speaker A:This Is the article coming this way or is it coming this way?
Speaker B:Yeah, I haven't figured that part out yet.
Speaker B:I feel like.
Speaker A:Yeah, it remains to be seen.
Speaker B:I feel like I should be in this third quadrant, so it should be over here to my left over there.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:But, yeah, we're gonna.
Speaker B:We're gonna figure all these things out.
Speaker B:And for those of you going, I don't know what they're talking about.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Watch the YouTube.
Speaker B:Watch the Spotify video.
Speaker B:We place videos next to us from time to time.
Speaker B:I might put in the middle.
Speaker B:I don't.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:Do my hands.
Speaker B:This is all new to me, too.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:But valid question.
Speaker B:I had thought about it.
Speaker B:The problem that I'm having with the cameras right now is I got to figure out how we can play replace them so our hands don't get.
Speaker B:So, like, if somebody's watching the video and they see you right now.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Like, say something.
Speaker A:Say something.
Speaker B:See my hands.
Speaker B:My hands.
Speaker B:On the way.
Speaker B:Your face.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So that's.
Speaker B:We're gonna figure that out at some point.
Speaker A:We'll figure it out.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:As the chart below from the BEA shows, if imports are excluded, then GDP would have grown at an annualized rate of 4.5% in the first quarter.
Speaker B:What does this mean?
Speaker B:It means that this tariff conversation was substantial enough to take what would otherwise been a healthy, positive, growing GDP gross domestic product economy and make it negative.
Speaker B:A shrinking economy.
Speaker B:That's how meaningful tariffs are.
Speaker B:Of course, that data also doesn't quite tell a complete story either because part of the surge in investments is related to the surge of in imports, notably IT and computer equipment investments, as companies sought to get ahead of the tariffs.
Speaker B:So maybe the data was skewed because people also just bought a lot of the stuff in advance.
Speaker B:Like Apple shipped over two planes full or one plane full of, like, merchandise because they just want to get ahead of the imports.
Speaker B:The import taxes on the tariffs.
Speaker B:And so dumping.
Speaker B:And during one, I'm sorry, not dumping, my little subconscious freaking out on me.
Speaker B:And so during the most dynamic moments we've seen for the US Economy data, trying to capture where things stood in years, in, in the year's first three months looks a little noisy.
Speaker B:What they're really trying to say here is the data is unreliable.
Speaker B:So if Yahoo News is putting out this commentary about GDP ahead of the Fed meeting, it should come as no surprise to anybody who was plugged in that you know what, I don't know that Jerome Powell's got enough reliable data to make an informed decision like a rate cut here.
Speaker A:And I.
Speaker A:And to that point also further, it's, I don't.
Speaker A:He probably knows that a lot of economic data isn't going to change between now and the next meeting.
Speaker A:It's right around the corner, Right.
Speaker A:It's like four or five weeks away.
Speaker B:I'm still stunned.
Speaker B:Can I be the person that says I'm so how is jobs numbers still holding up?
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean previously it was government jobs that was really propping up the numbers.
Speaker B:I don't, I don't get it.
Speaker B:Every excuse we've heard for propping up these numbers, what the hell's going on?
Speaker A:But they, they'll get revised down in the future at some point.
Speaker B:Right, but you think, I mean it's been a year we've been saying this, we've been saying the jobs numbers overfleeted.
Speaker B:Seeking Alpha did like full on breakdowns the job numbers and why they were off and yet here we are.
Speaker A:Yeah, but with the tariffs though, right.
Speaker A:If we're going to really think about jobs and these jobs numbers, right.
Speaker A:It takes about one to two months for.
Speaker A:Because if they're going into effect right now, one to two months for the shipping to slow down.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And then after that by, let's just say by late or early June I have here, you're going to have a slowdown in trucking, right.
Speaker A:And actual shipments and containers coming in.
Speaker B:The trucking space is an interesting space.
Speaker B:I read some pretty interesting articles around.
Speaker A:That and the ports.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And then in, that means in around June you might begin mid June to late June, you'll start to really see the layoffs in the retail space and even in the trucking space.
Speaker A:So then how long does that take for it to actually hit the data that gets in front of the Fed?
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:Six months at a minimum?
Speaker B:Probably five to six months is probably, I guess.
Speaker A:Yeah, probably by the End of the year is when.
Speaker A:Maybe like October, November, definitely in Q4 is when you'll see the data that gets reported that gets put in front of the fret, the Fed.
Speaker A:And then you'll start to hear a lot of talk on, oh, the Fed's acting late.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:I feel like it's.
Speaker B:Conversation is much more intimate looking you in the eyes.
Speaker A:This is.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's very aggressive.
Speaker A:I like it.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It makes me feel like I got to be on my toes.
Speaker B:You do got to be on your toes.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because I will call you out to your face.
Speaker B:I will not.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I can't do this anymore.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You can't look the other way.
Speaker B:Look at the clock.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You like that?
Speaker B:I changed wardrobes for this episode.
Speaker A:You did?
Speaker A:Yeah, Yeah.
Speaker B:I came pre prepared.
Speaker B:You did, yeah.
Speaker B:Came in our own merch.
Speaker B:All facts, no cap available on thspod.com.
Speaker A:Yeah, get yourself some merch.
Speaker B:Get yourself some merch.
Speaker A:We don't make any money off that.
Speaker A:I mean, we do a little bit, but nothing that's not really nothing to.
Speaker B:Pay for a new studio.
Speaker B:You guys are way behind.
Speaker B:I'm putting tariffs on all these podcasts now.
Speaker A:Right, exactly.
Speaker B:So I went down the rabbit hole on a couple different financial pieces of information.
Speaker B:I know that a lot of people are feeling all sorts of types of ways about this, but the home housing market has been the conversation that has pundits on both sides of the fence arguing that there should be a housing recession.
Speaker B:There should not be.
Speaker A:There should be.
Speaker B:That there should be.
Speaker B:There should not be.
Speaker B:People talk about affordability.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:We haven't seen better pricing on homes.
Speaker B:I don't know the answer here, but what I'll tell you is I went down this rabbit hole.
Speaker B:But before I do, I've got an anecdotal side story for you.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Two or three years ago, I started getting real aggressive on Twitter.
Speaker B:What was in Twitter now X and well, I posted a comment about Open Door and this doctor who wrote articles for like, Seeking Alpha and some of the major, you know, I would call Investor Pages, retail investor pages.
Speaker B:He just blasted me, saying I didn't understand the technology.
Speaker B:I didn't.
Speaker B:Open Door has been having a real tough time financially because what was this point?
Speaker A:So explain to people what Open Door is.
Speaker B:Open Door was supposed to be a technological disruptor of the real estate, traditional real estate space where you could go look at properties on your own.
Speaker B:You had their app.
Speaker B:It would give you the information and go look at on your own as.
Speaker A:Opposed to an Agent setting up a.
Speaker B:Realtor was cut out of the equation effectively.
Speaker B:And then they would be able to buy properties, hold them in their inventory, sell them to you directly, or they listen for the people.
Speaker B:And it had some interesting novel concepts there.
Speaker A:I mean, I like that idea.
Speaker B:A lot of people did.
Speaker B:But he underestimated, in my mind, the Gestapo, that is the national association of Realtors.
Speaker B:And I told him that it wasn't going to be.
Speaker B:They're having significant financial difficulty right now because guess what?
Speaker B:Gestapo.
Speaker A:Yeah, that was well done.
Speaker B:SAT vocabulary.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:They are one of the most aggressive marketing campaign organizations as far as I'm concerned, for what I would call.
Speaker B:I would call a lobbying agency.
Speaker B:They lobby hard for their people.
Speaker A:Mm.
Speaker B:There's a lot of things that realtors do, and I know it's gonna be very stigmatizing, that are outdated on some level.
Speaker A:Like.
Speaker B:Like most Realtors know their local submarkets and their contract negotiators.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:But they're not really property, you know, inspectors.
Speaker B:Inspectors are not.
Speaker B:They're not really experts on construction or construction defects.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:They.
Speaker A:They rely heavily on the.
Speaker A:On the reports.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And they're not economists, you know, so you're relying on them to make a lot of decisions for you or give you guidance on a lot of decisions that are kind of outside their warehouse.
Speaker B:Wheelhouse.
Speaker B:Where?
Speaker B:Wheelhouse.
Speaker B:Warehouse.
Speaker A:Wheelhouse.
Speaker A:Warehouse.
Speaker B:What does that word really mean?
Speaker B:Wheelhouse.
Speaker B:Yeah, I'm breaking that down a little bit.
Speaker B:I mean, I know it's common.
Speaker A:Let us know in the comments.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I'm looking at the scratch my son put on the table, by the way.
Speaker B:Bothers me a great deal.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:You like it?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It reminds me of him every time I look at it.
Speaker B:That's how I justify it anyway.
Speaker B:Of course.
Speaker B:On my side of the table.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So, yeah, I think that the landscape around housing is changing pretty dynamically in front of us.
Speaker B:And we're so caught up on home price that we're ignoring things like there's just less transactional volume.
Speaker B:People are freaked out about the uncertainty in the market.
Speaker B:And then as a result of all.
Speaker A:These things, interest rates are still higher.
Speaker B:Interest rates are still higher.
Speaker B:You're seeing a slowdown.
Speaker B:So I went to my favorite X page, one of my favorite X pages, Nick Gurley's page.
Speaker B:Existing home sales are scraping at multi decade lows.
Speaker B:Multi decade.
Speaker B:Multi.
Speaker B:Tens of years, to be clear.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Just to break it down further.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And have shown no meaningful signs of recovery.
Speaker B:The only other time in recent history when home buyer demand was this low was.
Speaker B:You ready for it?
Speaker B: Tell me: Speaker A:That sounds like a notable time.
Speaker B:That sounds like a notable piece of data that we should go.
Speaker A:You know what, what happened around that time?
Speaker B:We were in the midst of something known as the Great Financial Crisis.
Speaker A:Ouch.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's pretty meaningful.
Speaker A:The gfc.
Speaker B:The gfc, yeah.
Speaker B:It's got its own little acronym.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:So then what would you.
Speaker A:What would you say to this?
Speaker A:So we always have known that housing and real estate is local, right?
Speaker B:Submarkets.
Speaker A:Yeah, submarkets.
Speaker A:Because right now, New York saw 7 1/2% year over year gains.
Speaker A:Chicago, 7% year over year gains.
Speaker A:Cleveland, 6 1/2% year over year Gains.
Speaker A:Tampa, negative 1 1/2%.
Speaker A:Sun Belt region.
Speaker B:Yeah, Florida's going through it.
Speaker B:They're feeling all some type of way right now.
Speaker B:They're the economics of the Florida.
Speaker B:So I actually heard somebody say that they believe that southwest Florida.
Speaker B:And I don't know why they chose southwest Florida.
Speaker B:They said southwest Florida is going to be, in their mind, the canary in the coal mine for the housing recession that they think is looming.
Speaker B:I think it's a bit of a stretch, personally, but there's certainly something going on in Florida that's meaningfully different than the rest of the country right now.
Speaker B:And I don't really know what that is, but if you're a Florida real estate investor or you're in the Florida real estate market.
Speaker B:You're listening to this, drop us a comment, send us an email, let us know.
Speaker B:And I'm not saying it's the whole.
Speaker A:Reason, but, I mean, I'm sure insurance has something to do with it.
Speaker B:I'm sure insurance has got a lot to do.
Speaker B:A lot of real estate problems across the country, not most notably Southern California, for that matter.
Speaker B:Yeah, but insurance is a whole different problem.
Speaker B:We've got to figure out a better way to skin that cat.
Speaker B:Yeah, I'm all about expressions tonight.
Speaker B:I'm all about expressions.
Speaker A:You're dropping the gems tonight?
Speaker B:Yeah, I'm out here.
Speaker A:Everything.
Speaker B:Everything your dad taught you, I'm dropping.
Speaker B:New stew.
Speaker B:Same dude?
Speaker A:Yeah, dude, I love it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Well, in any event, there's some serious real estate issues going on there.
Speaker B: That downturn, by the way,: Speaker B:In contrast, this downturn is yet to see national prices drop.
Speaker A:So I'll be honest, I don't feel like I'm gonna.
Speaker A:We're gonna see that this time around.
Speaker B:Well, let's be clear.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:If we don't, we have a fundamental disconnect.
Speaker B:We have a problem.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Where do you see buyer activity drop off so significantly and not see prices go down?
Speaker B:How.
Speaker B:How is that possible?
Speaker A:I think we see because what we have been seeing are price cuts.
Speaker A:But look, you're.
Speaker A:You're cutting the price of something that's overvalued.
Speaker A:You're still.
Speaker A:It's like going into a store and wanting to buy a leather jacket for $600, and they say, okay, we'll cut it to 500.
Speaker A:Still making a profit.
Speaker A:A profit or a profit or a profit?
Speaker B:Profit.
Speaker A:Profit.
Speaker B:You seem very uncomfortable.
Speaker A:This is very.
Speaker B:What's wrong with you?
Speaker A:I feel like I want a real TV set right now.
Speaker B:Okay, well, we do have pretty meaningful.
Speaker A:Lights here, but this feels like.
Speaker A:This feels like mind pump.
Speaker A:No, I mean, there's.
Speaker B:I mean, there's.
Speaker A:There's way.
Speaker A:There's way more lights at my phone.
Speaker A:But I'm just saying, in general.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I don't.
Speaker B:I don't really catch.
Speaker A:I liked it better when I was sitting back there.
Speaker B:Really?
Speaker B:When you were behind the DJ booth?
Speaker A:It was nice.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, I can do entire show talking myself.
Speaker B:You want?
Speaker B:Does that make you feel better?
Speaker A:I know you can.
Speaker B:I mean, the color of lights chosen for the show is the highlight.
Speaker A:That's a different kind of skill.
Speaker A:Those radio hosts that can just go on and on.
Speaker A:Yeah, on, like how, dude, the first.
Speaker B:Six months I recorded this, I talked to myself.
Speaker A:How did you do that?
Speaker B:Painfully.
Speaker B:I had every show.
Speaker A:Was it scripted?
Speaker A:Were there bullet points you were covering?
Speaker B:For the most part, there was always, like, a relative, tightly kind of scripted show.
Speaker B:And then I would go off on slight meaningful tangents.
Speaker B:And then as I got more comfortable, call it like four or five months in, I could kind of wing things a little bit more.
Speaker A:Did it feel like you were preaching, though?
Speaker B:A little bit.
Speaker B:It felt preachy.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know how you get imposter syndrome from time to time?
Speaker B:You're like, I get it all the time.
Speaker B:Oh, like this show, like, what am I doing here?
Speaker A:I get.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, very.
Speaker B:When I got a little preachy in the solo episodes.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Certainly had a little bit of imposter syndrome.
Speaker A:So do we want to tease the next episode a little bit?
Speaker A:Because we get in that episode, we did talk about imposter syndrome, and during that conversation, I found that part really interesting because we were talking.
Speaker A:We were talking about our YouTube, were talking about watches.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And I remember when I was.
Speaker A:When I Was younger.
Speaker A:I was gifted.
Speaker A:I know this is going to sound pretty ladies.
Speaker A:I was gifted a Rolex.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I never wore it because I'm like, I don't deserve this.
Speaker A:And I would hate.
Speaker A:I don't know why people would ever.
Speaker B:See, like, what Rolex it was.
Speaker A:No, I don't.
Speaker A:It was a Mariner Submariner.
Speaker A:I mean, nothing fancy, but still, for most people, right?
Speaker A:These, they just.
Speaker A:Who don't understand watches for whatever they are.
Speaker B:Maybe the watch.
Speaker A:Family.
Speaker B:Ambiguous.
Speaker A:Yeah, it was a family.
Speaker A:It was a gift.
Speaker A:I think it was a graduation gift.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:For what?
Speaker B:High school?
Speaker A:College?
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Oh, high school, man.
Speaker A:That'd be crazy.
Speaker B:I'm just.
Speaker B:I don't know, man.
Speaker A:I'm expecting an AP after that.
Speaker A:Royal Oak.
Speaker A:Patek Philippe.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I.
Speaker A:I was like, I.
Speaker A:I could never wear that because I don't feel like I earned that.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Huh?
Speaker B:You're a weird dude.
Speaker A:You would.
Speaker B:You're a weird dude.
Speaker A:You would.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:I had one for a while.
Speaker A:I know.
Speaker B:You did a couple of them.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And why didn't you wear them?
Speaker B:I had a vintage Submariner, black.
Speaker B:And I had it PVC coated with black ceramic before Rolex actually made a factory black ceramic bezel and dial.
Speaker B:And I had a NATO strap on it and was going through Rome's airport.
Speaker B:And going through Rome's airport, I was.
Speaker B:I just had a backpack.
Speaker B:It's all the only luggage I had.
Speaker B:They said, hey, you can't go through security with metal on.
Speaker B:You take all your metal off.
Speaker B:So I took my belt off, I took my headphones out of my pocket and my phone, put it in my backpack, and I took my watch off, put in my backpack, go through the scanner.
Speaker B:I'm the only person there.
Speaker B:My buddy went first.
Speaker B:And I.
Speaker B:I go through the scanner.
Speaker B:Behind the scanner is one gentleman operating it, one gentleman standing behind him.
Speaker B:Out comes my bag.
Speaker B:And there's no watch in there.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:Cause an entire scene.
Speaker B:Security comes over.
Speaker B:They basically tell me, you've got two choices.
Speaker B:We can arrest you for being publicly drunk, which I hadn't drinking any alcohol, or you can get on your plane and go to Croatia.
Speaker B:Like, that's where I was, my destination was.
Speaker B:And I was like, in my watch.
Speaker B:He said, what watch?
Speaker B:You didn't come through with a watch.
Speaker B:I said, dude, I was wearing.
Speaker B:I put him up.
Speaker B:Come on.
Speaker A:And they're like, you can pull the cameras.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:He's like, well, you can stay.
Speaker B:We'll pull the cameras and you'll be arrested for public intoxication.
Speaker B:Which one do you want?
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker B:So the rest of the trip.
Speaker B:This is the beginning of the trip.
Speaker B:I was live it.
Speaker B:This is where it was in Rome.
Speaker B:Leaving Rome, going to Croatia.
Speaker B:See, I was.
Speaker B:I was pretty pissed off.
Speaker A:I mean, anybody would.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:That watch.
Speaker B:Yeah, it was really, really troublesome for me.
Speaker B:So I got back and I thought.
Speaker A:To myself, that's when you started rocking the bases watch.
Speaker B:Oh, you remember that?
Speaker A:Yeah, that was the, like, OG Step counter.
Speaker B:The OG Step counter is basis watch.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:That's when I started wearing, like, tech for watches and started getting the utility of it going on.
Speaker B:And then I stopped.
Speaker B:I was like, you know what?
Speaker B:I'm not really wearing these watches, so they should go to better home.
Speaker B: So I sold all but my: Speaker B:I kept that one because I'm Bond.
Speaker A:James Bond.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Good man.
Speaker B:Because I thought it was a good legacy piece.
Speaker B:So I have to.
Speaker B:I have to have it repaired in a couple different ways, but I think that'll go to my son at some point in time.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Based on.
Speaker B:I never wore this.
Speaker B:You can wear.
Speaker A:It wasn't good enough for me.
Speaker A:You can.
Speaker B:It's not my kind of heirloom.
Speaker B:I can't give you my Apple Watch Ultra.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker A:I know.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker A:It's classic.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's iconic.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker B:You seem.
Speaker B:Okay, look.
Speaker B:No, no, let's do this.
Speaker B:Let's.
Speaker B:Let's get through this.
Speaker A:No, let's get.
Speaker A:Come on, stop.
Speaker A:No, you're making something small and do a bigger deal.
Speaker A:Yes, you are.
Speaker B:You have a very uncomfortable thing going on.
Speaker B:Okay, okay.
Speaker B:What is it?
Speaker A:What do you mean?
Speaker B:This really bothers you that much?
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:It takes some time to get used to a new studio.
Speaker B:You've been literally in the studio the last couple days of me.
Speaker A:No, no, I know, but I'm just saying recording an episode feels.
Speaker A:It feels different this time.
Speaker B:It does feel different now.
Speaker B:It also smells very oaky and woody.
Speaker A:I sit here, like, at an angle from you.
Speaker B:I don't have the.
Speaker B:I don't have the skills to put the cameras in different positions.
Speaker B:I could barely manage this.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's not.
Speaker B:Not exactly.
Speaker B:Ideal.
Speaker B:I will spare you the pain of continuing on so we can talk about student loan collections restarting.
Speaker B:This has been a big topic for a lot of people.
Speaker A:Not just collect.
Speaker A:You're talking about garnishing wages.
Speaker A:That's what you mean.
Speaker B:No, no, I mean as in, like, you have to pay your student loan payments again starting in May.
Speaker A:No, no, no, that, that's already happened.
Speaker A:Well, I think what, what's, what's on going come up is they will begin garnishing wages.
Speaker B:That's what's, that's correct.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I, that pains me to say that you're correct.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:I apologize.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So this is, this is a big deal.
Speaker A:Go ahead, get into it so we can talk.
Speaker B:Are you gonna allow me to continue on?
Speaker A:Because I, I, I, I, this is, I, I've always felt like that this is a tool that the government will have in the back of their pocket.
Speaker B:Ooh, I smell conspiracy theory.
Speaker A:No, no, no, no, not at all.
Speaker A:This is a, this is a tool that they have in their tool belt that they can pull out at any time if they ever wanted to stimulate the economy.
Speaker B:Okay, how.
Speaker A:Pause payments again, for whatever reason, if the economy is contracting.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:I don't see this particular government doing that at this point.
Speaker A:No, no, no, not yet.
Speaker A:This current administration, I don't see doing that either.
Speaker A:But you can't deny the fact that, I mean, imagine, it's not unfortunate for a lot of people, they don't take advantage of the pause payment time to continue to make payments at a 0% interest rate to just for their entire payment to be hit towards principal.
Speaker A:Yeah, right.
Speaker B:That wasn't.
Speaker A:When people pause or when, when they do pause, they just say, okay, I can take that money and I'll go spend it elsewhere.
Speaker A:Yeah, they, and that, and that generally would stimulate the economy.
Speaker B:Well, let's, let's, let's, let's run through these numbers because they are, they're meaningful.
Speaker B:The U.S.
Speaker B:department of Education will resume collecting on defaulted student loans on Monday.
Speaker B:Damn it.
Speaker B:Cider.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:More than 42 million Americans hold student loans, and collectively outstanding federal education debt exceeds $1.6 trillion.
Speaker B:More than 5 million borrowers are currently in default, and that total could swell to roughly 10 million borrowers within a few months, according to the Trump administration.
Speaker B:The federal government has extraordinary collection powers on its student loans.
Speaker B:And, and it can seize borrowers, tax refunds, paychecks, and Social Security retirement, as well as disability benefits.
Speaker A:Oh, my.
Speaker B:Yikes.
Speaker A:Yikes.
Speaker A:Disability benefits.
Speaker B:Yeah, they can go after it.
Speaker B:I gave a couple of media quotes on this topic.
Speaker B:People were really interested.
Speaker B:I did one, I think one for US News, and I think one for MSN money or something.
Speaker A:Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker A:Because it just always strikes me as like, man, it's, it's wild that this one specific kind of debt is the only one that you can't file.
Speaker B:Banks, government debt Right.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:They're gonna.
Speaker B:They're gonna come after you one way or the other.
Speaker B:They're gonna get it.
Speaker B:They're gonna get their juice.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, it's like the mafia.
Speaker B:They're gonna come at.
Speaker B:You're gonna pay them the juice.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, you could have filed bankruptcy on all those PPP loans.
Speaker A:That was a government loan.
Speaker B:Yeah, but those are meant to be forgiven for the.
Speaker B:For a large part, they were supposed to be like softer, gentler, caring and thoughtful.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:You're supposed to hug you like a warm PPP blanket to make you feel loved when nobody else loved you during the pandemic.
Speaker A:No, but there are other government loans that you can file bankruptcy on.
Speaker A:Couldn't you?
Speaker B:Not a lot.
Speaker B:So it's not a common thing.
Speaker B:Yeah, usually you pay the government.
Speaker B:That's part of the reason why our bond market's so secure is you know you're gonna get repaid, right?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So grain of salt.
Speaker B:A lot of people are really concerned about student loans in the collection, which is kind of shocking because it makes me wonder how many people have been paying for a lifestyle they can't afford with the inclusion of that student loan payment.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:Keep in mind, some doctors and lawyers have, you know, multi thousand dollar payments.
Speaker A:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker A:I know by the time they're done with all their, you know, graduate degrees, what not.
Speaker A:You're talking like 500, 600, $700,000 worth of student loans.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, probably it's going to be maybe more than any kind of mortgage that they're going to get against their homes.
Speaker A:I mean, you think about it these.
Speaker A:You're coming out of college now, like, how do you, how do you expect people to start a family, buy a home, get a car, you know, and.
Speaker A:Or wages have not kept up.
Speaker B:You know, we should do.
Speaker B:We should call Dave Ramsey, ask him what his thoughts are.
Speaker A:Yeah, he should have never got the loan, bro.
Speaker A:Should have never gone to school.
Speaker B:You can't pay.
Speaker A:Even though I think the studies are outright, they say with the degree, you make a million dollars more in the lifetime on average.
Speaker A:What are you supposed to do?
Speaker B:You know, I got a lot of feedback on the last episode that we did.
Speaker B:We talked a lot about AI and it was just anecdotal conversation between the two of us.
Speaker A:Oh.
Speaker A:About the film industry, The Hollywood.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's right.
Speaker B:And a lot of people were like, wow.
Speaker B:Like that one hit home, man.
Speaker A:Really?
Speaker B:And the conversation I've been having the most has been that the traditional jobs that we thought were like guaranteed safety mechanisms to, to get in the middle class, like go be a lawyer.
Speaker B:If you're a trial attorney, you specialize in something where your emotions as a human have value, that is trial attorney, you'll probably be okay for a while.
Speaker B:If you're a general practitioning attorney, you're probably not going to be okay because.
Speaker A:AI is going to take over.
Speaker B:AI is going to significantly displace how much you're worth.
Speaker B:You probably still have a job, but will it be worth as much?
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:If you're a doctor and you're a general practitioner.
Speaker B:I'll be honest, when I get sick now and I don't know what I got, I asked chat GPD before I.
Speaker A:Ask anybody else, give them all the symptoms.
Speaker B:You have problems with symptoms, you have to be self aware.
Speaker B:I get it.
Speaker B:We're not far off from most general practitioners being like a thing of the past.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:AI will tell you what specialist to go to.
Speaker A:I think I saw an article recently that in China they actually have hospitals now that they're robots and they solely use AI.
Speaker B:Yeah, I believe it would not surprise me the slightest.
Speaker A:Yeah, there's a lot of, I mean, you gotta think to yourself if, if times are tough and let's just say it was cheaper.
Speaker B:It is cheaper.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Number one.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So would you opt to go there or go to a hospital and see a real person?
Speaker B:Oh, let's level this up a notch.
Speaker B:Okay?
Speaker B:Amazon's in healthcare right now.
Speaker B:They have prescription program.
Speaker B:Now you can get prescription drugs to like a pharmacy.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:How long before you think that it is before they make the leap into having some ability from some technical loophole to prescribe you drugs directly for common general practitioner type medicine?
Speaker B:Oh, you have a bacterial infection, according to AI.
Speaker B:Here you go.
Speaker B:I mean we're not far off from that concept.
Speaker B:And what do you think that does to big pharma and to the healthcare industry and the pharma and the insurance industry in this whole ecosystem, the costs are gonna drop, man.
Speaker B:Like it or not, people get competitive.
Speaker B:They're gonna say, you know what, I don't have to charge so much for this as in this anymore because I'm not paying for these people.
Speaker B:So I can drop my costs and I can under underscore the market and I can, you know, because I'm under.
Speaker A:Bidding the market, get a bigger market share.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's only a matter of time.
Speaker B:And I say this because we as a country decided, call it 100 years ago, that we were going to take all this manual labor, all these exports.
Speaker B:We're just going to drop them off in China, India, Vietnam, and we're going to say, hey, you go do all the manual labor because it's cheaper there.
Speaker B:And we're going to do all the intelligent, intellectual work.
Speaker B:And now a lot of that intelligent, intellectual work is being replaced by AI over time.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And not like in 20 years.
Speaker B:I'm talking like in 10.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Maybe even sooner.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:If you're an illustrator right now, all.
Speaker A:It'S going to take is for one company to be able to operate at a negative for, let's say, five, ten year period of time to gain all that market share, wipe everybody else out, and then boom.
Speaker A:Then turn it back on.
Speaker B:Boom.
Speaker A:Boom.
Speaker B:What movie?
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker B:Come on, man.
Speaker A:Boom.
Speaker A:Here comes the.
Speaker B:My karma.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:No, no.
Speaker B:Oh, by the way, couples retreat, man.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:Sorry, I didn't.
Speaker A:I've only seen it once or twice.
Speaker B:Encouragement.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Boom.
Speaker A:Boom.
Speaker A:Now it's clipping.
Speaker A:I started severance.
Speaker A:You did four episodes in.
Speaker A:I'll be honest, the first two are rough.
Speaker B:Wait, why?
Speaker B:It just seemed too sci fi for you?
Speaker A:No, no, it was like.
Speaker A:This is a drag.
Speaker A:Get to it, man.
Speaker A:Come on, Ben.
Speaker A:Because now that I know it's been still, I'm like, ben, there's high expectations here.
Speaker A:I need you to hurry up and get to the point.
Speaker B:By episode four, though.
Speaker B:You feel good right now?
Speaker A:Yeah, I'm.
Speaker A:I'm excited for episode 5.
Speaker B:Wait till you get into the last episodes I made.
Speaker A:I made a huge mistake.
Speaker B:You googled it.
Speaker A:No, no, no, no.
Speaker A:I know, I know.
Speaker A:I never.
Speaker A:And I never do this.
Speaker B:You did so.
Speaker A:This is what I did.
Speaker A:So we watched.
Speaker A:We watched two episodes.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:And you wanted to read about it, but you accidentally.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:So my.
Speaker A:My favorite.
Speaker A:Okay, I'm a nerd out a little bit.
Speaker A:My favorite thing about the whole Game of Thrones thing.
Speaker B:Oh, God.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Was the.
Speaker B:The dragons.
Speaker B:I love the dragons.
Speaker B:I love the soft core porn of the dragons.
Speaker A:No, no, I did not.
Speaker B:That's what Game of Thrones was.
Speaker B:I could not.
Speaker A:It was not.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:I could not bring myself to watch that.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:I just want you.
Speaker B:It's anime.
Speaker A:The draw behind Game of Thrones for me also was the content creators, after the episode, jumping on and laying out all the possible things.
Speaker B:Oh, Joanna, my wife does that.
Speaker B:She loves.
Speaker B:She loves going to the content creators.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Go to the content and see all the possible theories.
Speaker A:I don't even care if they're right or wrong?
Speaker A:I was like, oh, that's cool.
Speaker A:Tying that to that.
Speaker B:Mentally.
Speaker B:Intriguing.
Speaker B:I get it.
Speaker A:All right, so, okay, so you raved about this show, but you can't do.
Speaker B:This a lot of episodes that are, like, seasons deep.
Speaker A:So listen, here's the mistake.
Speaker A:Here's the mistake.
Speaker A:Everyone's been raving about the show.
Speaker A:I go on after episode two.
Speaker A:I'm like, this is a drag.
Speaker A:I'm ready to call it quits.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:This is.
Speaker A:This ain't it for me.
Speaker A:I'm not about to invest another three hours until this thing gets good.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Three more episodes.
Speaker A:And then I go.
Speaker B:So you went to go read if it gets good?
Speaker A:No, no, no.
Speaker A:I go.
Speaker A:I go to YouTube and I type in episode two review.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:I'm like, clearly I say episode two.
Speaker B:You didn't say the season, though, chief.
Speaker A:I did not.
Speaker B:It didn't say this season even.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:That's a rookie move.
Speaker A:So I don't want to ruin it for anybody, but I saw one person with another person.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And like on the.
Speaker A:On the thumbnail.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:On the.
Speaker A:And I was like, why did I.
Speaker A:Why?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I didn't know.
Speaker A:I didn't realize there's two seasons out.
Speaker B:Self sabotage.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But it's okay.
Speaker A:It didn't.
Speaker A:It didn't ruin a whole lot.
Speaker A:But actually, there's still.
Speaker B:There's some pretty good.
Speaker B:There's some gems in there still.
Speaker A:There was a scene.
Speaker A:There was a scene.
Speaker A:There was a scene in episode three or four where I was like, oh, it's not the big deal.
Speaker A:This person will be fine because I saw the thumbnail.
Speaker B:Have you gotten to the goats yet?
Speaker A:I don't want to.
Speaker A:I don't want to ruin for anyone that hasn't started.
Speaker A:That's the problem.
Speaker B:You haven't gone to the goats yet, have you?
Speaker A:I haven't gone to the goats yet.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:I haven't gone to the.
Speaker A:The Lebrons or the Kobe's or.
Speaker B:Have you.
Speaker B:Have you had moments watch?
Speaker B:I think you probably have.
Speaker B:In the first four episodes, there's moments where you, like, compare things to your current job.
Speaker A:Okay, so this is.
Speaker A:This is exactly the conversation I had with my wife last night.
Speaker A:So she's been into it since episode two.
Speaker B:She's dental hygienist, though.
Speaker B:Slightly different.
Speaker A:Okay, so she's into the show after episode two, and I'm like, I'm.
Speaker A:I don't see where's the draw in this yet.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I'm like.
Speaker A:And for you to like it, I'm Like, I.
Speaker A:I feel like I would like it more than you because there's a better correlation here because I work in an office.
Speaker B:In a cubicle.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:In a cubicle environment.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like, there's offices and there's a hierarchy, as far.
Speaker A:You know what I mean?
Speaker A:And you're like, I don't get it for you.
Speaker A:She's.
Speaker A:But she seems to really like it.
Speaker A:But yeah, I've already started to, like, try to make some ties and correlations.
Speaker B:I'm like, towards the end of this season, you're gonna walk into the office feeling some type of way.
Speaker A:Really?
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:Do you think.
Speaker A:Is that has.
Speaker A:Have you seen any interviews from Ben talking about this?
Speaker B:Yeah, lots.
Speaker B:Lots.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I wonder, like, where did.
Speaker A:Where does he, like, gain his.
Speaker A:Like, it's really interesting, his inspiration from.
Speaker A:Given.
Speaker A:Given his history.
Speaker A:He has never worked, like, an office job like this, or at least not in a very long time.
Speaker B:There.
Speaker B:There are bits and pieces, so I would tell you not to seek those out because his commentary about it reveals some of the show.
Speaker B:Okay, so don't do that.
Speaker A:Is season two over already?
Speaker B:Yeah, we watched it already.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:But it's like five years.
Speaker B:There's a huge gap.
Speaker B:It was like some big gap.
Speaker B:I don't remember what it was.
Speaker B:It was like maybe.
Speaker B:Maybe two years, but two years, because there was a.
Speaker B:Like, there was a Covid in between, I think, when they were recording and there was a bunch of delays.
Speaker B:There was a strike.
Speaker B:Oh, there's a lot of delays.
Speaker B:The next season shouldn't be so long.
Speaker B:But it was.
Speaker B:It was a pretty.
Speaker B:Yeah, it was a pretty significant series of delays.
Speaker B:But don't.
Speaker B:Don't go seeking that out, because some of his answers kind of give you some insight into what's going to happen.
Speaker B:Don't do that.
Speaker A:And I immediately noticed the symmetry.
Speaker A:Yeah, immediately.
Speaker B:So for those people listening to the show, because I've been building the studio, because we've had the previous studio side and I had conversations where there's different things that I notice now.
Speaker B:I didn't go to film school.
Speaker B:I don't think about lighting.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:I aspire to have good lighting.
Speaker B:I aspire to understand film and cinematography.
Speaker B:But even I can tell my rudimentary understanding of things, how beautiful the symmetry and colors are on the show.
Speaker B:Severance.
Speaker B:Like, there's shows, there's episodes where you can just see these beautiful green hues and this beautiful, like, you know, blue color.
Speaker B:And it's.
Speaker B:It's pronounced throughout the show.
Speaker B:It's episode after Episode after episode.
Speaker B:But almost every scene has symmetry built into it where the shot doesn't look off balance at all.
Speaker B:And if you go back and look at it, it's really a beautiful artistic masterpiece in a way that, frankly, I think is very underrated.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:If you haven't.
Speaker A:If you haven't seen the.
Speaker A:The show and you do decide to watch it, look out for it.
Speaker A:You'll appreciate it that much more.
Speaker A:Because I'll be honest, that was the only thing keeping me going after the first two episodes, because it was kind of.
Speaker A:Was really.
Speaker A:It was.
Speaker A:I think it takes time for the character development.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Like any show.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Surprise you.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Oh, you know what?
Speaker B:I got a couple topics that I still want to talk about tonight, but I also want to acknowledge that this office smells incredible.
Speaker B:The wood from all the stuff in here, it just smells very woody.
Speaker A:Unintentional, by the way.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like, I just, like, completely not thought through this desk.
Speaker A:The depth.
Speaker B:Yeah, right.
Speaker A:Perfect.
Speaker B:Oh, you know how much I micromanaged the distance of the 22.
Speaker B:So a typical table is somewhere between 36 and 40 inches wide.
Speaker B:Why I know that because I went through painstaking detail on this.
Speaker B:You know, the average height is of a dining room table.
Speaker B:30 inches.
Speaker A:30 inches.
Speaker B:30 inches.
Speaker A:What is this?
Speaker B:It sounds.
Speaker B:This is the 30 inch table.
Speaker B:I was worried that it was gonna be too short.
Speaker B:And this table is 411 1/2 inches wide.
Speaker B:I wanted.
Speaker B:Something was a little wider, and I didn't want them.
Speaker B:That was 36.
Speaker B:I want to be making out with you in the show.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, I know it's a.
Speaker B:Maybe it's because I'm aware of the Velcro thing.
Speaker B:You have short facial hair.
Speaker B:You got a low low.
Speaker B:I got long facial hair.
Speaker A:I just trimmed this down after two weeks.
Speaker A:It was rough.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Good for you.
Speaker B:By yourself.
Speaker A:This is all me.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker A:I don't.
Speaker A:I don't pay.
Speaker A:I don't pay for the.
Speaker A:The barber beard trim anymore.
Speaker B:Oh, wow.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:It's been six, seven months.
Speaker A:That's 500 saved right there.
Speaker B:You know, one of the first times.
Speaker B:Oh.
Speaker B:Adam Schaefer just text messaged me.
Speaker B:Shout out to mind pump.
Speaker B:What's up, my guy?
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:It's like that.
Speaker A:Look at that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Shout out to Adam.
Speaker B:Hey, decide, you know I'm replacing him yet.
Speaker A:No, that was.
Speaker A:That was a real question for a long time.
Speaker A:It was close.
Speaker A:We were close for a while.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:That's a true story There.
Speaker B:There's.
Speaker B:There's a.
Speaker B:Interesting backstory for those of you mind pump listeners know that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Adam Schaefer may have been the original side.
Speaker B:Omar.
Speaker B:I don't want to tell anybody.
Speaker A:I'll be behind the ones and twos or the desk now.
Speaker B:The desk.
Speaker B:Desk.
Speaker B:I was going to call it the ones and twos, but I'm like, he doesn't give me homage.
Speaker A:Hey, Adam, if you ever decide to come down and do the show, you have my seat.
Speaker A:I'll sit behind the desk.
Speaker B:He doesn't listen the show anymore.
Speaker B:Yeah, see, he's moved on because he.
Speaker A:It's because he has direct access to you.
Speaker B:Yeah, let's call it that.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:That's not what it is at all.
Speaker A:Yeah, no.
Speaker A:Yeah, he's leveled up.
Speaker B:So I'm gonna end the show on probably the biggest news of the week.
Speaker B:News that was honestly heartbreaking and meaningful to me.
Speaker B:We'll end the show on that because.
Speaker A:Heartbreaking.
Speaker B:Heartbreaking.
Speaker B:I was an emotionally distraught person for a solid day.
Speaker B:I was walking around all somber and sad, just questioning life, looking at leaves falling off trees.
Speaker A:I know where this is going.
Speaker B:I was in pain.
Speaker A:I know where this is.
Speaker A:I could tell you right now.
Speaker A:I want to take a guess.
Speaker B:Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker A:Somebody's stepping down.
Speaker B:Yeah, man.
Speaker B:First my guy, Charlie Munger passes away.
Speaker B:Now this.
Speaker A:I know.
Speaker B:World is taking everything from me.
Speaker A:This is the world I knew.
Speaker A:My adulthood now is completely shaken.
Speaker B:The single greatest investor cannot be a social media influencer.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:You can't leave me like this.
Speaker B:Warren.
Speaker A:Come on.
Speaker A:Warren.
Speaker A:I'll be honest.
Speaker A:Listening to him, listening to him speak, it was.
Speaker A:I could tell there were some challenges there for him.
Speaker A:It was.
Speaker B:It was hard emotionally.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It was real challenges.
Speaker B:And look, I.
Speaker B:Dude, I was getting.
Speaker B:I literally was emotional watching it.
Speaker B:I'm not even.
Speaker B:This is not hyperbole.
Speaker A:10 minute standing ovation.
Speaker B:Yeah, he deserved 100 minutes.
Speaker A:Honestly, I was disappointed that it wasn't long.
Speaker B:It was like a 5 million percent return or something.
Speaker B:Ridiculous.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Okay, so I wanted to talk about the.
Speaker B:The trickle down impacts of.
Speaker B:Of what this tariff situation has caused and possibly an investment opportunity for those of you listening to the show wanted to know, like, worship of my money.
Speaker B:I love this look for weaknesses in the supply chain of how, you know, things that are going to be impacted are impacting other industries.
Speaker B:This is a great example of that.
Speaker B:So the headline here from the Wall Street Journal, UPS to cut 20,000 jobs after Amazon breakup.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:And I was like, wow, that's.
Speaker B:That's a.
Speaker B:That's a lot of jobs.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:Like in In Amazon breakup sounds like it was kind of a known thing.
Speaker B:And you know, there's a tariff situation built into this.
Speaker B:So United Parcel Service UPS said it's cutting 20,000 operational positions this year, moving to slash expenses after breaking ways with Amazon.com, its biggest customer.
Speaker B:UPS, which has nearly 490,000 employees, has been looking to shrink its operations after deciding in January to reduce the amount of packages it delivers for Amazon.
Speaker B:So that was known, that was out there.
Speaker B:The E commerce giant accounted for about 12% of UPS's revenue.
Speaker B:So if you know a publicly traded company is going to break ways or do something that's going to in fact 12% of their revenue.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:You know that that stock price is probably going to be impacted near term while they recuperate those lost earnings.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:That's an investment opportunity.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:Exactly right.
Speaker A:And look, we saw this in the fintech space when companies were hurting, like Meta, for instance, when they announced that they were going to have some layoffs and after they did, and immediately they had a bump in their stock price right away because it's a direct impact to their bottom line.
Speaker B:Well, there's also a trickle down effect of this.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So you just lay off 20,000 employees and there's not other implications?
Speaker B:Well, okay, so UPS also expects to close 73 leased and owned buildings this year.
Speaker B:Last year it closed 11 buildings and cut 12,000 jobs, mainly managerial roles.
Speaker B:So you know that last year they cut 12,000 jobs and it closed 11 buildings.
Speaker B:Now they're closing, they're, they're cutting $20,000 jobs and there's 73 buildings they're exiting from.
Speaker B:So this has a real estate impact to their holdings.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:So but it doesn't just in there.
Speaker B:So if you know that they're going to close a building in, I don't know, Huntington Beach.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Then you know that jobs in that market are going to be impacted and real estate in that market is going to be impacted.
Speaker A:So good point.
Speaker B:So there's a trickle down effect.
Speaker B:It's the same way where you get the positive impacts.
Speaker B:When Tesla says they're going to a certain neighborhood in Texas, you know that neighborhood probably has upside potential in real estate.
Speaker B:This one probably has near term downside.
Speaker B:And I say near term because this isn't going to be something that's going to permanently impact the area like these, these buildings that were leased and owned will be re let released.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And purchased by other people.
Speaker B:And there'll be other businesses that go in.
Speaker B:But maybe near term you see some property values Dip.
Speaker B:So you go buy those when they dip, right?
Speaker B:When you dip, I dip.
Speaker B:We dip.
Speaker B:Yeah, we go buy those.
Speaker B:And that's an upside opportunity for you, potentially.
Speaker B:What I'm trying to say is the headlines that we give you on this show, which might sound like you going, oh my God, these guys are droning on about stuff I don't care about.
Speaker B:Just stop talking about Jerome Powell.
Speaker B:These all have financial ramifications if you choose to see them.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:You got to read the tea leaves.
Speaker B:You got to read the tea leaves.
Speaker B:And you know who read tea leaves better than anybody else in the world?
Speaker B:Sayed Omar.
Speaker A:Mr.
Speaker A:Warren Buffett.
Speaker B:Mr.
Speaker B:Warren Buffett.
Speaker A:Yeah, man.
Speaker A:He was, he was a goat for sure.
Speaker A:He was a goat.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And look at the, at the end of the day, with all, with everything that's going on with the tariffs, it had me thinking, right?
Speaker A:I don't, you don't never know what's going to happen.
Speaker A:You could see the last week or so stock prices have been doing okay.
Speaker A:The stock market's been doing okay.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But prior to that it wasn't doing okay.
Speaker B:Yeah, but I mean, it was a sobering week or so of price volatility.
Speaker A:But, but I think it's, it's, it's in large part due to the tariffs because it creates so much uncertainty and volatility.
Speaker B:Uncertainty in markets and investing is never.
Speaker B:You hear the word uncertainty, you can pretty much guarantee bumpy ride.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But look, you're one headline away from the stock market experiencing a lot of gains.
Speaker B:Now imagine we have a deal with China.
Speaker B:Boom.
Speaker A:That's exactly what I was going to say.
Speaker A:Imagine.
Speaker A:Boom.
Speaker A:Imagine if encouragement, encouragement.
Speaker A:Imagine that comes out tomorrow.
Speaker A:What happens to the stock market?
Speaker B:Oh, it's going to blast off.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Back to all time highs again.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Or let's say there's no deal talks.
Speaker A:You could see things going south, but eventually turn back around.
Speaker B:There's another, there's another option here on the table.
Speaker B:China comes out and says, we're gonna tariff you back bigger because we're not backing down.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:We don't care.
Speaker B:And the market will go down, hence the uncertainty.
Speaker B:You don't know what's gonna happen.
Speaker A:You don't know what's gonna happen.
Speaker A:But what I do know is I'm gonna continue to dollar cost average.
Speaker B:The quote from U.S.
Speaker B:news Today that I gave them, that came out today, at least anyway, was there is no hedge against inflation, but to keep investing.
Speaker A:That'S the only way.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And fun fact, I also coined this, but I said that the side hustle is the new 401k.
Speaker B:Not saying that it should replace anyone's 401k, but people used to look at the 401k as their exit strategy for retirement and as their.
Speaker B:Their safety net.
Speaker B:I think while they're still investing in a 401k, I think their safety net is now pivoted to the side hustle.
Speaker B:You can make an extra 2, 3, 4, $5,000 a year with a side hustle.
Speaker B:Most W2Americans that I know would be interested in doing that.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:And I think a lot of them have turned to side hustles, in some cases anonymously, as their new, like, 401k to augment their income because the cost of living has gotten so high.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's interesting.
Speaker A:I mean, at what point would you say, okay, it's going to be different for every person?
Speaker A:Every job is different.
Speaker B:Oh, 100.
Speaker A:Because I know what we like to say on the show is always, first, tackle your high interest debt.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:And then we say, try to build a little safety net.
Speaker A:And then what you really should be doing, especially if you're in your 20s, your early 20s, you should be investing in yourself before you go out there and really start investing by, you know, getting more credentials, certifications, learn a new skill that could apply to your job.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:But I also think that learning a skill in some cases can take the form of a side hustle.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker A:Like, exactly.
Speaker B:If you learn web design and you're.
Speaker B:You're doing it as a side hustle and you're learning something there.
Speaker B:Great.
Speaker A:You know, like, AI is going to replace that.
Speaker B:AI is going to replace it.
Speaker B:But if you know how to prompt AI to get good web design.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker B:You know, there you go.
Speaker B:Boom.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker A:Encouragement.
Speaker B:There it is.
Speaker B:You don't know what I'm talking about, do you?
Speaker A:I do know.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:So, yeah.
Speaker A:Come on, man.
Speaker B:Vince Vaughn movie before Vince Vaughn.
Speaker B:He doesn't really do a lot of acting anymore.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:It's kind of sad.
Speaker B:It is kind of sad.
Speaker A:Improv was.
Speaker B:Is it because he's cancel culture.
Speaker A:He.
Speaker A:A lot of the stuff he's made you cannot redo.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Cancel culture bait.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Like, because the second he comes out with something that's not cancel culture bait, they're going to bring out all the stuff he should have been canceled for.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:That's what he's doing.
Speaker A:He's.
Speaker A:He's waiting for the pendulum to swing back.
Speaker B: ,: Speaker B:And for Warren Buffett, 94 sexy years old, to remain as chairman, the company said.
Speaker B:Which gave me a little bit of hope because the original release didn't really say that he was going to be chairman.
Speaker B:It said that he was just stepping down as CEO.
Speaker B:So I like the fact that he's still going to be involved and he'll be chairman of the board, which is a meaningful, important role.
Speaker B:Yes, but will he be running the day to day?
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:No, he won't.
Speaker B:Mr.
Speaker B:Abel will be.
Speaker B:Buffett shocked Berkshire shareholders and able by announcing in the final minutes of the company's annual shareholder meeting on Saturday that he would be asking the board to replace him as CEO at year end with the current vice chairman of non insurance operations for Berkshire.
Speaker A:Man, this isn't the only place this is happening to, by the way.
Speaker A:San Antonio spurs, same thing.
Speaker A:Greg Popovich stepping down as head coach but is going to remain as president.
Speaker B:Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobi walking him out of the press conference.
Speaker A:He suffered a pretty bad stroke, man.
Speaker B:Yeah, he was not walking very well.
Speaker B:And I'm ashamed that I know that it was all.
Speaker B:I mean, normally I would bastardize you for.
Speaker A:He's a veteran, bro.
Speaker A:You got it.
Speaker B:So let's have a philosophical conversation about this.
Speaker B:I think it's important.
Speaker A:By the way, for the listeners that wanted to know.
Speaker A:The boy lost his championship game.
Speaker B:Oh yeah.
Speaker B:So Saeed came into the in the studio to help us set up on the final day before we had our first guest who said, alluded to earlier in the show, we did not mention his name.
Speaker B:P.J.
Speaker B:i create millionaires.
Speaker B:We'll be on the show next week and it'll be sensational.
Speaker B:He was very open, very transparent.
Speaker B:He knows that he has a very polarizing personality.
Speaker B:He brought it.
Speaker B:And so, you know, we're preparing frankly for the last five months for his arrival to get this show, this space done for that show, for that specific show.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And you know, it went okay.
Speaker A:No, you're being modest.
Speaker B:I went to my own horn.
Speaker A:Yeah, it was a very good episode, one that I think people will enjoy.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And you know, we're still working lighting in the scenario, getting, you know, our feet planted in here.
Speaker B:But that being said, side came in to help set up for that, that arrival and he came in sounding very horse like this, like he couldn't speak.
Speaker B:I knew instantly what had happened.
Speaker A:Yeah, we just, I stepped in, says and coach, they lost.
Speaker A:Lost by three.
Speaker A:He Gave it his all.
Speaker A:I told him I couldn't have been more proud.
Speaker B:Second year in a row in the championship game finals.
Speaker A:Last year lost by one.
Speaker A:This year lost by three.
Speaker A:Or last season, both.
Speaker B:Narrow margins.
Speaker A:Narrow margins.
Speaker A:And to his credit, came home.
Speaker A:He went right into the backyard, started practicing again.
Speaker B:Was emotional.
Speaker B:When he lost.
Speaker B:Was it.
Speaker B:Were the emotions there.
Speaker B:I mean, totally reasonable.
Speaker A:By the way, I think balling.
Speaker A:No pun intended.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Is an understatement.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because this still came to the show.
Speaker A:Still came to the show.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:No, he understood because he.
Speaker A:Look, we.
Speaker A:We had a moment.
Speaker A:I told him, look, you had your opportunities.
Speaker A:You didn't shy away from the moment.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker A:And I'm proud of you for, you know, doing what you did at that point.
Speaker A:I gotta.
Speaker A:It's really hard when you're, when you're coaching, when you're coaching your own kid, you have to remember, like, I'm still dad, so I gotta.
Speaker A:I have to be encouraging as well.
Speaker A:There's a lot that I could have, that I could have said that I probably should have said if I was.
Speaker A:If it was his coach, but I didn't.
Speaker A:Chose not to.
Speaker A:But he went home, started practicing right away, and I'm proud of him.
Speaker B:Good man.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:But go ahead.
Speaker A:You had something you want to say?
Speaker A:I can't talk about it.
Speaker A:I can't talk about it.
Speaker B:That was an awkward transition.
Speaker B:We have had this really weird inflection.
Speaker B:This is the philosophical part of the show where I think everybody who listens to this will identify.
Speaker B:It used to be that 55 and 65 year olds were retiring, that they would mentor the younger generation and they would step away.
Speaker B:Warren Buffett's a great example of what I see as a modern trend of people working longer.
Speaker B:And in some cases, I think in like Warren Buffett's case, it's not a money thing.
Speaker B:That's who he is.
Speaker B:He identifies, as I am, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.
Speaker B:And in his case, he very much loves.
Speaker B:It's obvious what he does.
Speaker A:And I do think his situation is also very unique, though.
Speaker B:Very unique.
Speaker A:But because he is very much the stability.
Speaker B:Oh, he's a name.
Speaker B:You can't have his type of professional credentials from a working background and not bring a strong degree of confidence.
Speaker B:That stability, a lack of volatility for a market comparison is in that franchise.
Speaker A:But him staying on board while they replace him.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:As a CEO, I think shows confidence still in the company and who they're replacing him with.
Speaker B:It also goes to show you his long term Vision in that he probably started moving to cash like he did years ago.
Speaker B:Two years ago.
Speaker B:About now is when he started making the pivot.
Speaker B:Now, he's always been around 70, 30 stock invested to cash.
Speaker B:But this particular cash movement may have been ahead of what he knew was going to be an announcement.
Speaker B:Oh, you know, it could have been strategic on his part to give the next CEO the biggest war chest to invest that he could.
Speaker A:Did he cash out at all?
Speaker B:There's a, there's a component there.
Speaker B:Yeah, I didn't really look into it.
Speaker B:I was just so emotionally distraught that.
Speaker A:He was departing because I've seen a lot of CEOs do this recently.
Speaker A:I know Bezos just took out another four and a half billion.
Speaker B:Yeah, but some of that's tax planning.
Speaker B:Jamie Dimon did.
Speaker A:Come on, man.
Speaker B:Tax planning strategy.
Speaker A:Four and a half billion.
Speaker B:You understand, like, so again, some I get.
Speaker B:Let's, let's talk about this.
Speaker B:So if you're an executive at a public trade institution, you get paid a base salary and then usually get some type of compensation in the form of stock, in the form of a bonus.
Speaker B:It's usually largely stock, but you also have cash components in some cases.
Speaker B:But for the most part, they want to pay you in stock performance RSUs, performance based returns, or just stock based on, you know, your title position, whatever.
Speaker A:And what do those get vested usually right away from them or over usually.
Speaker B:Get 1/3, 1/3, 1/3.
Speaker B:So 1 third immediately one third the next year, another third the year after that, depending on the structure of how these get paid.
Speaker B:But because you have this trail of three years forward, the next year you'll get paid your immediate year bonus, your 1/3 that year plus the previous years.
Speaker B:If you've been there for three years, you'll have two of those previous years.
Speaker B:So it starts to add up after three years to be meaningful.
Speaker B:But people go, oh my God, like they made so much money.
Speaker B:Well, yeah, they did, but it's also in the form of stock and it's illiquid until they liquidate it.
Speaker B:They sell that stock.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So the, the perception that people have is like, oh my God, Jamie Diamond's worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Speaker B:Well, yeah, he is, but it's largely concentrated in one company stock.
Speaker B:At some point in time, you've got to divest of that concentration, which we tell you on the show all the time.
Speaker B:You want to have diversified assets and you've got to start planning for the future.
Speaker B:And if you're not going to be at the helm of the future, or you're not the sole decision maker, then you're not as confident that the decisions we made at the company are probably going to be in line with what your strategic vision was.
Speaker B:It's fine if I got my money behind my decision making, but if somebody else is making them, as smart as this person may or may not be, I want to diversify my risk.
Speaker A:Yeah, it makes sense.
Speaker B:Plus, you're getting older, you want to have your kids have an ability to take advantage of these assets.
Speaker B:So you start a legacy tax planning strategy, which usually includes a sale down of some of these assets.
Speaker B:So not a wild thing.
Speaker B:My bigger concern is that you're seeing a very interesting shift of people working longer.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Less interested in mentoring the next generation because they think and feel they have more time.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And if you remove Warren Buffett and again, extreme example 94, he's probably reeling from the death of his best friend, Charlie Munger.
Speaker A:That's gotta be.
Speaker B:You know, your best friend dies.
Speaker B:You've been doing this together for decades.
Speaker B:It's got to be emotionally impactful.
Speaker B:I think that's what we saw coming out at the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting.
Speaker B:But there has been a pretty prevalent amount of, of gap where a working population in America has worked for the longest it probably ever has to an age that it probably hasn't worked to.
Speaker B:Meanwhile, a younger demographic is hungrier and hungrier for wealth and success, not to sustain their lifestyle when they're 65.
Speaker B:Because they don't want to even think about being 65.
Speaker B:They want to.
Speaker B:I want to enjoy it now.
Speaker A:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker B:So I think we're at, we're at this really weird period of time where culture around work is changing meaningfully.
Speaker B:Using severance as a proxy for like the bigger example here, there are a lot of people who watch that show who do not identify at all what the hell is happening.
Speaker B:It's an interesting show.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:But it doesn't resonate with them because they're not part of corporate America like that.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:I don't know if it's good or bad long term, but there's certainly a dynamic changing.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:That's all I'm saying.
Speaker A:No, no, I, I mean, I agree.
Speaker A:I really, I don't know what to.
Speaker A:What to make of it, personally.
Speaker A:I really don't.
Speaker A:But I, I think that you do need to start a side hustle.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And work on your own individual skills to continue to put position yourself the best way possible.
Speaker B:Side hustle this.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:We're not doing very well.
Speaker A:I got I got.
Speaker A:Hold on.
Speaker B:After expenses, we're.
Speaker B:Cash flow negative.
Speaker B:We're going to sell a lot of T shirts.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:A lot of T shirts.
Speaker A:No, we got.
Speaker A:We got some ideas in the works.
Speaker A:One of.
Speaker A:Some of which I haven't even shared with you yet.
Speaker A:That I'll share with you after the show.
Speaker B:We'll work for a sponsor.
Speaker A:We'll work for a sponsor.
Speaker B:Cardboard signs outside.
Speaker A:We should have a sign right here.
Speaker A:This show is sponsored by.
Speaker A:And just leave it empty.
Speaker B:Nobody.
Speaker A:Yeah, nobody.
Speaker B:The price could be.
Speaker B:This could be yours.
Speaker B:The price is right.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:It's funny.
Speaker A:We said Fijian earlier.
Speaker B:Fijian.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:Fiji water.
Speaker B:Which.
Speaker B:That water.
Speaker B:I'm gonna have to charge 10 bucks for that.
Speaker B:It's extra creamy because of the silicate.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Highly expensive for no reason.
Speaker B:It really is.
Speaker B:That's why I bought it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:It doesn't even have the electrolyte.
Speaker B:I knew page one was going to look at my Apple watch and judge me, so I had to get really expensive water to make up for it.
Speaker B:There's even Perrier.
Speaker A:You got the smaller bottles.
Speaker B:I did, actually.
Speaker B:Joanna got those.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And she got you the.
Speaker B:The side size C4.
Speaker B:Where I wouldn't worry about your heart attack in the middle of the show.
Speaker A:Honestly.
Speaker A:These are stronger than the other cans.
Speaker B:No, they're not.
Speaker A:It felt like it.
Speaker B:Give me the can.
Speaker A:I'm being serious.
Speaker A:I couldn't even finish it.
Speaker B:Guarantee.
Speaker A:I started getting jittery.
Speaker B:Oh, there's 150 milligrams per can, so these are almost as powerful.
Speaker B:Those are 200.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I didn't finish it.
Speaker B:Oh, wow.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Well, it's strawberry watermelon ice.
Speaker B:That's questionable decision making right there in the fridge.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:You got anything else?
Speaker B:I am super excited.
Speaker B:This is our first show.
Speaker A:I hope everyone likes the new studio.
Speaker B:Little limited on top.
Speaker B:We didn't go full distance here.
Speaker B:We're just.
Speaker B:We're getting acclimated.
Speaker B:We're getting up to speed.
Speaker B:We're ramping up.
Speaker A:It's an hour in.
Speaker A:We did good.
Speaker B:I know, but normally we were, like, always over an hour, you know?
Speaker B:And I feel like you're being a little zesty tonight.
Speaker A:What does that mean?
Speaker A:I don't know what that means.
Speaker B:It means, Saeed, you're not you right now.
Speaker B:You're very uncomfortable.
Speaker A:Carl Anthony Towns.
Speaker B:Carl Anthony Towns.
Speaker B:You're a cat.
Speaker A:Got it.
Speaker A:I'm a cat.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker B:So many people are gonna be confused.
Speaker A:Yeah, a lot of people are gonna know exactly what you're talking about.
Speaker A:My man Sean Fisher knows what you're talking about.
Speaker B:Sean Fisher.
Speaker B:What's up, Sean?
Speaker B:How you doing out there?
Speaker B:Yeah, shout out to the listeners.
Speaker B:We love you.
Speaker B:And please, please, if you've gotten this far in the show, please, please comment.
Speaker B:Yeah, let us know like the light.
Speaker A:We did get an update.
Speaker A:Updated review.
Speaker B:Do we really?
Speaker B:I haven't checked the reviews in a long time.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah, we did.
Speaker A:Worthy enough for me to read it.
Speaker A:I believe this from tuna roll 152.
Speaker B:I remember tuna roll.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:What's up tr?
Speaker A:Yeah, tariffs episode.
Speaker A:I've been catching up on miss podcast.
Speaker A:Five stars for you for your tariff talks.
Speaker A:Good news is our Chinese takeout is going up in price.
Speaker A:Oh, wait.
Speaker A:Is Chinese food made here terror free?
Speaker B:I get the joke.
Speaker B:I'm laughing on the inside.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker B:But yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker B:Thank you for the review.
Speaker B:Tune roll.
Speaker A:Please leave us a non sponsor review.
Speaker A:If you are watching us on YouTube, subscribe.
Speaker A:Ring that notification bell.
Speaker A:Hit that like button.
Speaker A:Let's get this video out to as many people as possible.
Speaker A:Share with your friends and your family.
Speaker B:Breathe out Good wood smelling.
Speaker A:It's good.
Speaker B:Let it outside.
Speaker B:Tell them that's good.
Speaker A:Good night everybody.
Speaker A:Bye.
