A new study about online shopping yields surprising results: the allure of cheaper online products might not be as compelling as shopping at traditional retailers. Should you change your shopping habits? We’ll dig in to this topic with Paula Pant and special guest Chris Costello from 401k allocation experts Blooom. Plus we’ll also tackle automation in finance. Are all of these lower fees across the board for investors fantastic innovation or do lower fees encourage investors to move more frequently than they should and ruin their results? Our contributors will weigh in with great (and surprising) opinions.

We’ll also talk to Tanya VanCourt from Goalsetter.co. Tired of your children receiving gifts that will pile up alongside other unplayed-with toys? How about the gift of financial education. In time for the holidays, Tanya explains how Goalsetter works and tells stories about helping her own children learn about money and financial responsibility.

Besides that, we’ll answer some questions from listeners, one via voicemail from Mike, who’s planning on going back to school soon. Should he ditch his 401k plan? Our team will weigh in. Plus we’ll answer another question AND we’ll also bring Doug’s trivia down to the basement and serve it up….this week in story problem form.

Thanks to MagnifyMoney.com for supporting Stacking Benjamins. 

Thanks to Harry’s for supporting our channel.  To get a limited-edition holiday shave set while supplies last, go to Harrys.com/SB.

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Show Notes:

<> Open

Compare checking, savings, credit cards, and loans before switching. Magnify Money makes it super easy to compare, switch and save.

Check out Magnify Money

Harry’s 

Thanks to Harry’s for supporting Stacking Benjamins. To get a limited-edition holiday shave set while supplies last, go to Harrys.com/SB

Check out Harry’s Holiday Shave Set

 <4:20> Headlines

• Costco vs. Amazon: Which Is Cheaper? (LENDEDU)
• Get smart about the future of trading (InvestmentNews)

<>Today’s Contributors

Chris Costello

Follow Blooom on Twitter: @BlooomInc

Check out Blooom: Blooom.com

Paula Pant

Check out Paula’s site at: AffordAnything.com

Say hi to Paula: @AffordAnything

<20:10> GoalSetter

Follow Goalsetter online: @GoalsetterCo

Check out the site: Goalsetter.co

<30:09>Doug’s Trivia

• Your employer deposits a profit-sharing contribution into your 401(k) account. However, this money is not automatically yours. In this particular plan, you receive 30% of the money if you leave the company after one year, 60% after two years, and 100% after three or more years. What is the term for this sort of schedule?

<35:45> Mom’s voicemail

• Mike is planning to go back to school full-time soon. Should he be putting his money into a 401k, or start saving money to put towards his school fees?

<40:16> Letters From the Mailbag

• It is legal for an employer to force employees to rollover old 401ks?

<> Join Us Monday

Maybe Doug is giving out the basement’s address as Santa’s workshop again, or maybe people really do love writing the basement. Answer one seems more probable, either way, there’s a letters episode in store for you next week. Tune in!

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