Most people glance at their balance and move on. Joe Saul-Sehy, OG, Paula Pant, and Jesse Cramer argue that’s exactly where the money quietly disappears. This week they go statement by statement, credit card through brokerage, and share what actually deserves your attention and what you can safely ignore.
In this episode:
The one thing on your credit card statement that trips up even careful spenders, why focusing on your 401k rate of return is the wrong move, the underinsured coverage gap most homeowners and drivers don’t know they have, and the tax planning opportunities hiding inside your brokerage account.
Biggest takeaways:
Sort your credit card transactions highest to lowest. The leak with a comma in it will find you faster than you’ll find it.
Your 401k contributions matter more than your returns. Contributions are within your control. Returns aren’t. Check that your payroll deductions are actually landing in the account, because the IRS does not look kindly on companies that miss that.
Check your homeowner’s insurance rebuild value every few years. Labor and material costs have changed dramatically. If you bought your policy when you bought your house and never revisited it, there is a good chance you are significantly underinsured.
In a taxable brokerage account, understand whether you’re holding short-term or long-term gains before you make any moves. The difference in what you’ll owe can be substantial.
Also in this episode:
Jesse Cramer previews an upcoming episode of Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors on why target date funds may be underperforming by more than you think.
Resources mentioned:
Jesse Cramer’s podcast: Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors Paula Pant’s podcast: Afford Anything The Stacking Benjamins scorecard: stackingbenjamins.com/scorecard The Vault: stackingbenjamins.com/vault
Deeper dives with curated links, topics, and discussions are in our newsletter, The 201, available at https://www.StackingBenjamins.com/201
Enjoy!
Our Topic: How to avoid costly mistakes by reading your financial statements more carefully
During our conversation, you’ll hear us mention:
- Credit card statements
- 401(k) statements
- Insurance statements
- Brokerage statements
- Fine print mistakes
- Money leaks
- Statement priority
- Urgent vs. nonurgent
- Unrecognized charges
- Large transactions
- Vendor name mismatches
- Family money meetings
- Autopay benefits
- Autopay complacency
- Subscription creep
- Due dates
- Full-balance autopay
- Foreign transactions
- Lifestyle creep
- 401(k) contributions
- Savings pace
- Rate of return
- Asset allocation
- Target date funds
- Expense ratios
- Insurance lapses
- Underinsured coverage
- Replacement cost
- Rebuild value
- Tax drag
Our Contributors
A big thanks to our contributors! You can check out more links for our guests below.
Jesse Cramer
Another thanks to Jesse Cramer for joining our contributors this week! Hear more from Jesse on his show, Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors – The Best Interest, on Spotify.
Learn how you can work with Jesse by visiting The Best Interest – Invest in Knowledge.
Paula Pant
Check out Paula’s site and amazing podcast at AffordAnything.com
Follow Paula on Twitter: @AffordAnything
OG
For more on OG and his firm’s page, click here.
Doug’s Game Show Trivia
- What year did the last Woolworth store close in the USA?
Mentioned in today’s show
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Miss our last show? Check it out here: Bitcoin, Blockchain, and the Stuff Nobody Actually Explains (SB1832).
Written by: Kevin Bailey
Episode transcript
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