PennyWise: Personal Finance & Travel Tips

Self-checkouts aren't the only things becoming more and more common for shoppers. Now the option to donate money as shoppers pay at the checkout has become a common occurrence, but should you use the opportunity to share the wealth? On the latest episode of PennyWise, host Nat Cardona is joined by NerdWallet's Sara Rathner who weighs in on when it's a good idea to skip the charitable donation at the checkout and when it might be a good idea.

Read more on NerdWallet here!

About this program

Nat Cardona is host of Pennywise as well as Lee Enterprise's true-crime podcast Late Edition: Crime Beat Chrionicle.  Lee Enterprises produces many national, regional and sports podcasts. 

Episode transcript

Note: The following transcript was created automatically and may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies.

Welcome to Pennywise, a Lee Enterprises podcast. I'm your host, Nat Cardona. 

When it comes to supporting a charity, it doesn't get much more easy than donating at that card reader in the checkout line. But depending on your motivations and your financial situation, it might not be the best approach, really. NerdWallet Travel and credit card expert Sara Rathner joins us to help you decide whether you should give to charity on your next shopping trip or you're checking out a cash register at any given store.

And oftentimes you'll be greeted with that little donation. QUESTION Would you like to donate $1 or $3, $5 to whatever charity? So today we're focusing on if you should skip or give to a donation, whatever it may be. So let's just go right into it. We're going to play a little game of skip a bit. So let's say you want to have a significant impact and you want to give maybe a little bit more than a dollar.

When you head into Walgreens, what's your suggestion there? Should you skip the cash register then or give at that time?

In that case, skip the cash register and donate directly to the cause, either the one that's being offered to you at the register or another cause that's really meaningful to you?

And kind of what I just mentioned, a lot of times those questions that you'll be greeted with at the cash register are, Hey, do you want to make a small donation? So if that suits you, is this the time to give or a time to skip?

Yes. And it could suit you for a couple of reasons. One, you're giving budget might be a little bit low this year if you've had a tough year financially, but you still want to give money to causes, it could be meaningful for you and impactful to give a couple dollars here and there to different causes as you shop for the holidays, or if it just makes you feel good to spread your donation dollars around to a number of different causes rather than concentrate them all in one place, then in that case, giving at the register could be not just a useful way to do that, but also a convenient way to do that because it's something you can do while you're already completing other tasks in your life.

Okay. And this is maybe trying to get one of those tasks off your list, talking about tax breaks. So if you're hoping for an easy task, break. My guess is probably skip in this.

Year for a couple of reasons. First of all, in order to get a tax deduction for charitable donations, one, you'd actually need to itemize your deductions, which many taxpayers don't do. Many opt to take the standard deduction. So if you take the standard deduction, you're don't count on your charitable donations being a tax deduction you can still give, of course, is just not something that you're going to have to submit proof of when you do your taxes later on in a couple of months.

You also need to make sure that the charity in question is recognized by the IRS so that you could get that itemized deduction for it. And so you'll want to look into that before you give. And then the third thing is you need to be able to provide proof in the form of some sort of receipt that you've made this charitable deduction.

And so if you're spreading your charitable dollars around across multiple retailers at these, you want to keep receipts of everything so that if you do itemize your tax deductions, you'll have receipts available to provide proof of that. And that's just a little bit of an administrative lift. But honestly, so is itemizing your deduction. So if you're already doing all that extra work, then then you'll want this to count to.

Serve as all just go full in.

Yes.

So speaking of your budget, times are tough for a lot of Americans out there. You I'm going to cut a scene here. So you're at any given store and the person working at the cash register asks you, you said, would you like to give a donation to, you know, the Children's museum? The children's hospital? They really get you.

It seems every time like with a really, really a tough one that's hard to refuse oftentimes. But let's say your budget's a little bit tight. What do you do in that situation?

It's okay to graciously say, no, no, thank you. It's nice to do that. Right. And a lot of people feel pressure and guilt into giving. Our survey found that 67% of Americans don't actually like to be asked this question at the Register. And part of that is because nobody likes to feel pressured to give, especially at a time where budgets might be tight and you're already feeling kind of bad about all the other things you have to say no to.

And this is just one more thing to have to say no to. And it makes you look like a total Scrooge, at least in your own mind. But the person asking the question does not know the full story of what's going on in your day to day life. And so that moments of discomfort where they ask you a question, you have to say no and you feel really bad about it.

And there's that awkward silence in there. It's okay. Just let the moment pass in a sure transaction. Ultimately, the most important thing is making sure that you and any anyone in your household has as much financial security as you can have. And then hopefully you might be in a place later on where your situation has stabilized and now you can give as generously as you're able.

And so it's okay to say no to stuff. It's okay to say no. In general. It's a complete sentence.

How do you do that sometimes, man? And I was just going to say it's good to keep perspective because those people are just doing their jobs.

They're just doing their job. They were told by their manager to ask the question, so don't take it personally and they don't take it personally. If you say no, it's maybe they do you, I don't know. But like so what? They're probably also I mean, you know, it's just it's everybody's just doing the best they can.

That's a great attitude and perspective of anything else you want to add about this charitable donation stop at the register that I didn't mention.

So we talked a little bit about tax deductions is now 2024 and all of your actions will be applied to that tax year. Yes.

So start early in that case.

So. Yeah. So, yeah, you know, listen, I mean, maybe it's a situation where like by the end of the year you're feeling so strapped for money or buying gifts and paying for travel and entertaining and hosting guests, and it's just a very expensive time of year. But you want to give to charity and you don't want to feel that pressure.

Maybe give to charities at times of year where you aren't spending so much money on other things and spread your donations out not just to different charities, but throughout different months of the year. And that might make it easier for you to have that charitable giving budget that feels realistic given all of your other obligations.

Nothing like wham bam at the end of the year.

Yeah, you already have so much other stuff going on at the end of the year. Maybe take a little pressure off of yourself and be charitable over the summer or in the spring or in February, like Valentine's Day Show the love by giving donations to causes that you care about at a time of year where you're not really spending much money on too many other things unless you have a habit of buying really expensive Valentine's Day gifts, it's another story entirely.

 

Anyways, that's all I have for you. I am sure I will talk to you more in the future.

Are you a Disney fan, but weary of the prices and endless lines at the theme parks? Or perhaps you have a large family and taking a trip to Orlando, Florida or Anaheim, California isn't in the budget. In this week's episode, host Nat Cardona is joined by NerdWallet's Sally French who has 5 U.S. destinations for Disney fans that aren't Disneyland or Disney World.

Read more on NerdWallet here!

About this program

Nat Cardona is host of PennyWise as well as Lee Enterprise's true-crime podcast Late Edition: Crime Beat Chronicals. Lee Enterprises produces many national, regional and sports podcasts.

Episode transcript

Note: The following transcript was created by Adobe Premiere and may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies as it was generated automatically:

Welcome to Pennywise, a Lee Enterprises podcast. I'm your host, Nat Cardona.

Calling all Disney fans! Orlando, Florida and Anaheim, California. Been there, done that, right? Are you looking for a new adventure to express your love for Disney? We have NerdWallet travel rewards expert Sally French with us today, ready to share five alternative Disney inspired destinations. All right, Sally, we've got a fun topic today, as you know.

I know pretty much anyone in the living world knows Disney fans are big fans. They're just all hyped up for all things Disney. The two destinations we have in the US are the one in Anaheim, Disneyland and then Disney World in Orlando and all the things that come with it. But you've recently written an article about five US destinations that Disney fans may not know of that are maybe some hot places for them to go.

So let's just jump right into it. I looked at this list and was pretty surprised by every single one. First one being New York City. 

Yes. You know, this is a major tourist destination for anyone, Disney fan or not. But there are some good reasons for Disney fans to skip the Disneyland and Disney World vacation in 2024 and maybe head to New York City instead. So, for starters, Disney's official stuff is the two musicals that it's got running Aladdin and Lion King. Lion King is an absolute classic, really stunning art.

And then Aladdin is just so much fun. The genie is hilarious. It's just great energy. So if you want to see a Broadway musical, those are two good ones to see. And not far from Broadway is the Times Square Disney Store. Unlike your usual mall Disney store, this one's two stories. It's got the usual Disney merch, but it's also got cool, unique, unique New York merchandise.

And then finally, my best free to visit option and doesn't require, you know, that $100 plus Broadway ticket or buying stuff at the Disney store. This one's free You can head to the New York Public Library. What's really cool is they have the actual original plush versions of Stuffed Winnie the Pooh and all his friends. So little stuff, Tigger, Piglet, all those guys.

So I think that's a pretty cool historical thing to see that Disney fans in the plaza.

Who do guess it's super awesome. Very, very cool. The next saw an even less of what I expected. Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. What's Disney related We're.

We're heading south to Hilton head get a little more warmth from New York and this is home to a really interesting Disney owned resort. It's called Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort. And it's part of the Disney Vacation Club. And this is a sort of timeshare like program. And to be honest, Nerdwallet does not recommend that most people join this unless you're the most ardent Disney fan who spends a lot of money as it is.

In fact, the baseline cost to join it now is more than $30,000. And then there are annual resort fees or sorry, sorry annual annual dues for DDC. But what's interesting is you don't necessarily need to be a DVC member to stay at this resort. You can pay cash rates when available. And another thing that people do is they rent DVC points from existing members who just aren't vacationing that year.

00:03:27:18 - 00:03:52:13
Speaker 2
And so I will pay you to use your points instead. And it's interesting, unlike the resorts that are, you know, super high energy, you have a ton going on. Hilton Head is more leisurely. This is good for the Disney fan who want some Disney touches, but also just wants to go fishing or hiking or swimming. And so this is a really great way to take a Disney vacation that's far more relaxing than your theme park vacation.

Actually, that's fascinating. I wish I could talk to somebody that's a part of that because I had no idea. That's nuts. Yeah, yeah.

And you know, it can definitely be worth it if you truly go to Disney every year and, you know, sometimes you can get DLC, look at, you know, a resort like the Animal Kingdom budget, Disney World, which is so beautiful and has actual animals out front. You can get rooms there for the equivalent of like 100 or $200 in your DVC points versus, you know, the cash rates.

There are can be easily over 400. So it can be a good deal. The problem is you have to commit to a Disney vacation every single year, which you might not necessarily want to do, or maybe just something like, you know, hopefully not another COVID pandemic happens and you can't travel that year and you're kind of out of luck.

Yeah, we don't want that at all. But the next place we have, we're heading down to Missouri. Yes.

This is Marceline, Missouri. I and this is Walt Disney's considered his hometown. Walt Disney was actually born near Chicago, but he spent most of his boyhood in Marceline. So so we consider this Walt Disney's hometown. And it's actually said to have shaped his vision for Main Street U.S.A., which is the iconic entrance to the park. And when you go to Marceline, you really feel that same thing.

It's a small town, feel really cute, small town. And then if you're a Disney fan, you have to go to the Walt Disney Hometown Museum. They have tons of memorabilia. They've got Walt's desk there from when he was a grade school kid. And you know, it is because he carved his name in the desk just like we all did when we were in first grade.

Walt Disney did the same thing. And you can see that desk there on some other cool stuff. You can see his boyhood home. A really great place to check out if you're a Disney fan.

And Sally, I see that you've maybe gone there before from this date.
I checked it out. I saw I saw his desk with my own eyes. And it's a fun spot. It's sort of a little hard to get to it. I would recommend flying into Kansas City Airport and then you definitely will need a rental car to get there. But if you're a Disney fan, it's absolutely worth it.

Yeah, Missouri is one of those cool little spots, various parts across the state. I'm from Chicago, and so Illinois is obviously the next state over and there's a lot of hidden gems there. And I just really didn't know that Walt Disney's Hometown Museum was one of them. So not to mention it totally is. So we're heading towards your neck of the woods, San Francisco.

That's correct. So there's the hometown museum in Marceline, Missouri, and then there's the Walt Disney Family Museum. And this is located in San Francisco. Walt Disney, whose family lives in the San Francisco Bay area. So this museum was actually founded by his daughter, who has since passed away. But now it's sort of overseen by his grandchildren. And this is a really cool place, especially if you love history of any type, whether it's Disney history or just, you know, World War Two era history, Depression era history is really compelling.

00:07:06:19 - 00:07:37:10
Speaker 2
And they have cool stuff in there. They have a multi plane camera, which is just one of three in the world that was used to film animated movies like Pinocchio and Bambi. And there's an amazing Disneyland model, and it's really fun to look at. You could spend hours and hours there. And besides the the Walt Disney Family Museum, there's other really interesting Disney touches on the other side of the Bay Bridge over in Emeryville, which is the city adjacent to Oakland, is Pixar's headquarters.

You can't walk through. But they do have, you know, some stuff that you can see out front. And of course, when in Oakland, you need to stop for ice cream at Fenton's Creamery, which you can see that exact version animated in the Pixar film app.

I didn't know that. And the other one little aside that you had mentioned, Disney at Berkeley, the library, that's very similar to the one in Monsters University I can contest. That's true. And I'm a good old friends. I went to Berkeley and we walked through it and I was like, my God, I'm 20 years old. Look at this.

This is just like the movie. It looks familiar, doesn't it? It's that's really last on on the list here. Looks like Oahu, Hawaii. Tell me more.

Now. This is another vacation club outpost, so much like we talked about with the Hilton head, where you have to be a DVC member to stay. Alani is the DVC resort. But again, you can rent points or you can book remaining rooms on cash. This is an interesting resort. It's removed from Waikiki Beach. Where is all the tourists hullabaloo?

This is an area called Colina, which is a little quieter, a little bit off the beaten path from Waikiki. And you can meet Disney characters here. The lines are so much shorter than meeting them in the parks. So if you want to meet Moana, you want to meet Mickey and Minnie, come do it here. And they've got giant pools and water slides, and then they've also got the Disney treats.

So Disney fans loved it. You can buy that there. You can buy a spare moose Ruby in the shape of a mickey Mouse. And then, of course, if you do love toilets, you might as well head to Oahu anyway, because they've got the Dole plantation there, which is definitely a must visit for any door fans.

Yeah, I've heard. It's very beautiful too, from the pictures that I've seen it Absolutely beautiful. Is it fair to say, since we're wrapping up this list here of these other Disney destinations, that you're a Disney fan yourself?

Ooh, I think you got me. How did you guess?

I don't know.

I've been to all of these places because I'm such a personal fan. In fact, I was just at Aulani last week doing some very important research. I had to buy a Mickey shaped spam musubi just to make sure that I knew what I was talking about when I came to talk to you.

Okay. And can you just tell me exactly what that is? I mean, I know you're saying the word spam, but I don't know what the next part is.

Yes. Is there spam? Musubi is is a great Hawaiian classic treat. And you can buy these everywhere. You can buy them in the little mini markets like little ABC stores. And it's basically just a piece of spam and some rice and it's wrapped in seaweed and it's really tasty and those sprinkles and seasonings on it. And you can also customize these things.

So if you want to get fancy, you could add some egg. You could add a little shrimp, you could add, you know, avocado. You can get fancy with a spam movie. But, you know, the fanciest for Disney fans is eating the rice in the spam in the shape of a Mickey Mouse head.

Yeah. So once in a lifetime event can't be said.

All right, Sally, anything else you need to add? Want to add about these Disney destinations?

You know, there's so many good destinations around the U.S. and I think, you know, so many of us Disney fans go to Disneyland and go to Disney World. And we think we've seen it to the max. We've seen every corner. But there are so many other places to go travel to and experience Disney without being at a theme park.

And save yourself some of those lines, too. Thank you so much, Sally. I appreciate it. 

Thank you.

Unexpected expenses can cause a lot of stress-- emotional and financial. On the latest episode of PennyWise, producer/editor Ambre Moton is joined by NerdWallet's Kimberly Palmer who has six key tips for recovering from financial surprises and how to prepare for the next one.

Read more on NerdWallet here!

About this program

Nat Cardona is host of PennyWise as well as Lee Enterprise's true-crime podcast Late Edition: Crime Beat Chronicles. Lee Enterprises produces many national, regional and sports podcasts. Learn more here.

Episode transcript

Note: The following transcript was created by Adobe Premiere and may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies as it was generated automatically:

Welcome to PennyWise and the Enterprises podcast. I'm Ambre Moton, the producer and editor of the show, filling in for Nat Cardona. Today we're talking about ways to recover from a financial shock and how to prepare for the next time. Being faced with unplanned expenses is a challenge that can feel overwhelming in the moment and for longer for managing a sudden loss to emergency house repairs to an unexpected medical bill.

The reasons may be common, but that doesn't lessen the shock or lasting impact on your finances. Joining me today from NerdWallet is personal finance expert Kimberly Palmer to discuss how to recover from these shocking expenses and what to do to prepare for next time. Generally, thanks again for joining us. So you have some guidelines for our listeners. What is the number one tip to help in situations when you suffer a big financial shock?

The most powerful tool you can have for yourself to help you get through a financial shock is to have an emergency fund, because basically that is your insurance policy. If you suddenly lose your job or have a huge house repair that you didn't expect any kind of big expense, you can turn to that emergency fund. And of course, not everyone has that all set, but that is the goal is to have an emergency fund, you know, ideally of 3 to 6 months worth of expenses.

But even having a smaller amount can really go a long way toward insulating us from financial shocks, which really are inevitable to experience at some point.

And I read the article that you should tailor your savings to a type of emergency. What does that mean and how can people do it?

I really like this idea of having separate emergency the savings account, so it's not all lumped into one because really there's all kinds of different emergencies we could face. I mean, something really catastrophic, like a job loss or, you know, a death, Something really horrible is a different kind of situation than if there is a sudden house repair or, you know, a bigger than expected tax bill or something like that that's a bit more manageable.

So actually having separate accounts that are tailored towards these different types of situations can just kind of help us be prepared and help that mental accounting of knowing where our money is. So you might have one account that's for catastrophic things that you are putting money into over time, and then you might have another account that's for unexpected bills that pop up.

And it can just give you that peace of mind to know you have some money tucked away for those different kinds of financial stocks.

Okay, so as an elder millennial, I can say that Treat yourself was the refrain the past several years. But just do things that people might seem is a little unnecessary, but that can be something that we probably should stop in order to help these situations, right?

That's right. If you notice that your emergency fund is nonexistent or, you know, it should be much bigger than it is, then you really want to think about maybe cutting back on some unnecessary expenses. So instead of going out to eat at restaurants, instead of making those retail purchases, you can put that money into your emergency savings instead, and it gives you that protection.

So you're more prepared if something does happen that you really weren't expecting and you suddenly have to pay out more money.

Okay. So we are talking about, you know, sudden financial shocks. Are there hardship options for people who might need extra time or some kind of help?

There are so many options out there and it's so worth understanding them just in case you get into this situation. So, first of all, most importantly, if you are ever in a situation where you cannot afford the basics like food or housing, there's a really helpful website 211. org and it helps connect you to local resources, places like food banks, other resources that can help you.

So that's the most important thing. And then a lot of utility companies and even credit card companies, mortgage companies, they have hardship programs. So if you fall on tough times, say you lose your job, For example, you can call and see if you can enter one of their hardship programs, which might give you more time to pay your bills.

I mean, it is worth noting that if you are paying a loan, interest will likely still accrue, but it does give you the extra flexibility of having more time and at least knowing that you're not also hit with late fees and just compounding the problem and making it even worse.

And how do people stay organized and kind of, I guess, keep from being overwhelmed in these situations?

It is so hard because any time you experience a financial shock, it is overwhelming on so many levels. And that's why it's so important to know that you have a support network behind you to share with a good friend or family member when you're going through something really hard. And maybe they can share when they've gone through something similar.

And just knowing that you have that support can really go a long way. Just staying on track and, you know, not really feeling hopeless because sometimes situations that are so challenging, you can almost just want to throw up your hands and say, you know, I don't even know what the next step is, but that friend, that support network can help you figure out the next step.

How about managing, you know, just kind of the stress and strain that people might experience when something like this happens.

It's so challenging and really it can be so helpful to just even acknowledge that mental health side of things and understanding that there is room. Everyone feels stress, everyone goes through these things. And so just having that room to talk openly about it can really go a long way.

And is there anything else that people can do or any other tips that you might ask?

I think what surprised me most is just acknowledging that we all experienced financial shocks at some point in our life. So even though it's a shock, it's really something we should and can anticipate and prepare for. And ideally, it starts with having that built up savings account, but it also just starts with acknowledging that these things happen and it's not something to be embarrassed or ashamed of and it's something we can just confront and work through and get to the other side.

That's great. Thank you so much for this. Listeners, you can go to Nerdwallet and check out the full article. We will have a link in the show notes to that. Thanks, Kimberly.

Thank you.

Gen Z and Millennials stand to inherit a significant amount of money and propert in the future as family members age. On the latest episode of PennyWise, producer/editor Ambre Moton is joined by NerdWallet's Kimberly Palmer shares tips on how to ensure you're well-prepared for any future inheritance.

Read more on NerdWallet here!

About this program

Nat Cardona is host of PennyWise as well as Lee Enterprise's true-crime podcast Late Edition: Crime Beat Chronicles. Lee Enterprises produces many national, regional and sports podcasts. Learn more here.

Episode transcript

Note: The following transcript was created by Adobe Premiere and may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies as it was generated automatically:

Welcome to PettyWise, A Lee Enterprises podcast. I'm Ambre Moton, the producer and editor filling in for Nat Cardona, surreally associate, a Boston based research and consulting firm, so that over $80 trillion in wealth will be passed to millennials and Gen Xers via inheritance from parents and grandparents between 2021 and 2045. That is a pretty mind boggling amount, particularly when you consider that they anticipate that less than half of that volume is expected to come from high net worth households to discuss how to prepare for potential inheritance.

NerdWallet personal finance expert Kimberly Palmer's joining me. Kimberly, let's talk about potential inheritance. If someone knows they're going to leave anything to their kids, grandkids, just any relatives or friends, what's the first step that everyone needs to take to get ready?

The first step is to talk openly about it. The last thing anyone wants is surprises or unexpected things to come up later when you no longer have the chance of talking about it. So basically, even though it can be kind of an awkward topic, talking about inheritance, you want to discuss that with your parents, your grandparents, and just talking about money generally can help make everyone feel more comfortable.

And I think it's important to note that this isn't just a conversation for the super wealthy, and that's because there is a massive transfer of wealth between the baby boomers, older generations, and then the younger generations over the coming 20, 30 years or so. And so it's something we can all be mindful of. It's not that everyone is going to inherit a ton of money, but it might be something like $1,000, $5,000, $10,000, any amount is worth talking about because what you do with it then is up to you.

Gotcha. When it comes to money, I know some families do find it difficult to have conversations about it, especially, you know, certain cultures. Is that something that can be kind of navigated?

Absolutely. One thing I heard over and over again from financial advisors who work with clients on this topic is that basically every family is different and you want to be really sensitive, especially if you're, say, your parents or grandparents are just resistant to talking about this topic of money. You don't want to ambush some or make them feel uncomfortable, but you want to set aside a time in advance, say, hey, we're all going to be together for the holidays.

For example, why don't we talk about money? Talk about your expectations, the future, what the future holds. If you need any help managing your money. If there's something I can do to be of assistance to you, all of those conversations can be difficult. But if you set aside a time so everyone knows to be prepared to talk about it, that can really help.

And the article said that you should make sure that the money is safe. What does that mean?

Well, unfortunately, among older adults, we see a lot of fraud and scam artists actually targeting older adults. And that's for the simple reason that older adults hold so much wealth. So from a scam artist perspective, they make a really good potential victim. And so we want to help protect our parents and grandparents from all of that. And even just talking about the risk of scams and being open about it can help everyone protect themselves.

Now, my grandfather there has definitely a few years ago started getting a lot of those phone calls. So that's been a fun thing to navigate with my mom and my uncles of my grandfather.

That is so, so hard.

There are some depressing statistics about lottery winners going broke, for example, and sometimes I think an inheritance can feel like winning the lottery. Are there any tips on what people can do so that they're not one of those statistics?

Definitely. And actually, the first thing to consider doing, if you're lucky enough to to get an inheritance, is to think about what is really important, your overall financial picture. And that might mean paying off any debt that you've accrued. Building up savings. And then you can think about more fun things like maybe if you have dreamed of buying a home but haven't been able to.

Or something like that. Or even a vacation, A family vacation. Something that you've really wanted to do for so long but haven't had the ability to do. So basically talking in advance with the person who might potentially leave you an inheritance can also help you incorporate their ideas and their wishes for what you might do with that money.

And why should people be counting on inheriting wealth from older generations?

Well, the challenge is that you really never know what's going to happen. And older adults often face a lot of big expenses later in their life that are hard to anticipate. For example, health care costs could come up later in life that you didn't really fully realize the impact of or the expense of. And so you don't ever really want to count on that money.

But that doesn't mean we can't talk about it and plan and have those conversations.

Was it definitely all great tips? Everybody can go to Nerdwallet. We have a link at our show notes that you can read the article if you want even more details. Thanks, Kimberly!

 

 

While it's best to refrain from going into debt, sometimes incurring debt can be unavoidable. Attempts to pay off the debt can be difficult. On the latest episode of PennyWise, producer/editor Ambre Moton is joined by WalletHub's Jill Gonzalez shares tips on the best ways to pay off debt.

Read more on WalletHub here!

About this program

Nat Cardona is host of PennyWise as well as Lee Enterprise's true-crime podcast Late Edition: Crime Beat Chronicles. Lee Enterprises produces many national, regional and sports podcasts. Learn more here.

Jill Gonzalez is the spokesperson for WalletHub. Her appearances as a Wallet Guru include Wall Street Journal Live, Yahoo Finance Live and ABC News New York. Her take on consumer finance issues has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, Washington Post, CNBC Online and Kiplinger.

Episode transcript

Note: The following transcript was created by Adobe Premiere and may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies as it was generated automatically:

Sometimes incurring debt just can't be avoided. It can, however, be a struggle trying to figure out how to pay it off. Welcome to Pennywise, the Enterprise Enterprises podcast. I am Ambre Moton, producer and editor of the show filling in for Nat Cardona. Jill Gonzales from Wallethub is joining me today to talk about the best ways to pay off debt.

Jill, thank you so much for being here for the podcast.

Thanks for having me.

We going to be talking about the five best ways to pay off debt. So I guess overall, like what's the first step that people should take towards paying off debt?

So the best way to really pay off debt is definitely a multi-pronged approach so that you're ready for your future once you don't have this debt anymore. So look at your spending patterns. Get current on your payments, lower your interest rates. All of that starts with stopping the bleeding by making a budget.

We definitely hear about that a lot. You mentioned lowering interest rates and I know I hear about that all the time, but how can that actually be done?

Right. So lowering your interest rates on your debts is going to lower your costs overall. So the first step here is trying to lower your interest rates by consolidating your debt or by negotiating with lenders. You know, if you actually call up your lenders or sometimes you can use the chat little feature on, you know, their website or app.

I think calling is probably still the best way. A little more time consuming, but worth it 80% of the time. If you ask your lender, hey, I want a lower interest rate or I'm considering, you know, opening up a new card, jumping ship, something like that, then they'll negotiate with you and you should be able to get that interest rate lowered.

That won't decrease your balance, but it can at least slow it or even stop it from increasing.

That's really good. You know, I've heard that you can do it. And I fully admit I have never attempted, but to hear that statistic about how many, you know, the chances of it actually happening, that is going to motivate me, I think, to actually do it my own life.

Exactly. Yeah. Take take the risk. Women, what have you got to lose?

Right. Worst case, they say no. And I'm still making my regular payments with my regular APR. Right. But I feel like I've always been told to have an emergency fund. But, you know, how can someone do that if they're also struggling with debt?

Yeah. So when we talked about budgeting, so part of your budget and, you know, our first step here is going to be budgeting for saving. So that's going to become your emergency fund. So that's something that we need. You know, setbacks happen all the time. We just came off of a huge pandemic. A lot of people lost jobs.

There were a lot of emergency health issues. So, you know, there are setbacks that happen all the time that even if you pay your debt off, can send you right back to it. So any safety net that you have can keep you afloat just enough to avoid erasing all your debt. Pay off progress that you made. So ideally, one day you'll be able to have six months to a year's worth of income as an emergency fund.

But, you know, take small steps and start with just budgeting for any type of saving in your step. Number one.

I like that. That makes it sound a lot more manageable than when you say taking steps to do it, start doing it as opposed to, you know, you need to have six months immediately. You know, I think that hearing that it's kind of intimidating for people when they're struggling.

Exactly. And that's kind of the key here. I mean, that's why we started off with saying stop the bleeding, because I think sometimes people get so overwhelmed, they're like, I don't want to look I don't even want to look at my savings right now. I want to look at my credit card bills. I don't want to look at my, you know, banking app.

But that really is number one. You got to know where you stand on each of your balances. And you know what? You can afford to pay off. Now, what you're working to pay off later, but stopping the bleeding and just, you know, making it more manageable is the first step, right? Baby steps.

So if someone has a balance on multiple credit cards, which I think is a lot more common than most people think, what's the best strategy for dealing with that?

So this is what I refer to as the island approach. And for all of us in debt, I know it's hard to think about Hawaii and ever being able to go there, but for the purposes of this, think of Hawaii. Think of your debts and your credit card, your separate credit cards, as you know, interconnected islands, each kind of having their own approach.

And then we're going to use the snowball effect. So kind of the opposite of Hawaii did pay them down. So I understand. And rank your dad's and pay off the highest rate balance first. So say you have three credit cards and the one with the lowest balance might be $1,000. The one with the lowest balance I would do that might be 800.

But the difference is that $1,000 balance has an interest rate of 20% and your $800 balance has an interest rate of at 26%, which is actually the average right now, which is the highest it's ever been. So you want to rank that highest rate balance first because that is costing you the most money over time. So instead of sprinkling any extra cash you have on hand across all of your credit cards, focus any extra cash on that one with the highest balance and pay the minimum, do the minimum bills on the other.

And then once you've paid off that highest rate balance first, then you can move on to the next highest rate balance. So that is really going to be the cheapest and the most efficient way for you to pay off your debt. There's something to be said for tackling the smallest island first as well. I mean, if you do have a balance that is $100 and you know that you can tackle that, it might be worth the psychological payoff for you to do that.

And that's just a different approach. It's not the least expensive approach, but maybe you do need that to even get in to this mindset of paying off debt. And hey, you can mix them up. Maybe you need to do that to dip your toe into debt, pay off, and then you switch to the bigger island and then you get to the middle one.

So it can definitely be whatever works for you and whatever motivates you.

So there's no real wrong approach. It just might be financially smarter to pay off that highest rate balance first.

Exactly. That's going to be the least expensive.

I like that. So what other debt solutions can people explore if they maybe aren't able to be completely or feel that they're being completely successful with the tips we've already discussed?

Yeah. So this will really depend on the size of your debt. There is what's called debt settlement that typically happens directly with your lender. So you pay a portion of what you owe as a lump sum. If you're already in default, it's usually unavailable and then any amount forgiven will probably be taxed as income by the IRS. So that's good to keep in mind.

But essentially you're paying off what you can pay off and hopefully getting the rest forgiven. That's debt settlement that happens directly with your lender. And then the other option is bankruptcy, which is not necessarily the end of the world. There is chapter seven, Chapter 11. The bad news is it does really tank your credit score. You're going to have to work on that after this.

And basically, it either restructures your debt with a 3 to 5 year payoff plan. That's Chapter 11. Then that's usually the most common, or it discharges all of your unsecured debt with chapter seven. And that's a little bit harder to essentially get approved for. But Chapter 11 bankruptcy, especially after a pandemic, especially in the midst of sky high inflation, is a lot more common than people think.

I know a lot of people tend to think of bankruptcy as kind of a scarlet letter when it comes to finances. So it sounds like it's something if you if you desperately need it, but maybe not look at it as your first choice.

Exactly. Right. So, you know, hopefully when you do these other steps, you know, budget, lower your interest rate, rank your debts, then, you know, if none of this is working and you've exhausted other options, bankruptcy is certainly there.

I really appreciate everything that you've mentioned. You know, is there anything else you just kind of wanted to add?

So if you need more help on any one of these things, you know, there's a guide that wallet hub to, you know, really get into budgeting or really get into the island approach the snowball method, the avalanche method, all of which we, you know, briefly mentioned here.

 

Inflation is up, interest rates are high and Americans' budgets are getting tighter. The balance transfer offers on credit cards can look like an attractive option for those carrying balances on their cards. On the latest episode of PennyWise, host Nat Cardona is joined by Melissa Lambarena, credit card expert at NerdWallet, shares tips on how to avoid common pitfalls with credit card balance transfers.

Read more on NerdWallet here!

About this program

Nat Cardona is host of PennyWise as well as Lee Enterprise's true-crime podcast Late Edition: Crime Beat Chronicles. Lee Enterprises produces many national, regional and sports podcasts. Learn more here.

Episode transcript

Note: The following transcript was created by Adobe Premiere and may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies as it was generated automatically:

Welcome to PennyWise, a Lee Enterprises podcast. I'm your host Nat Cardona. Times are tough for many American households right now. High interest rates, inflation, tight budgets, debt piling up. For all of these reasons. Balance transfer credit cards may be a helpful option for zapping that debt, but they aren't a cure all. Nerdwallet Credit Card Team senior writer Melissa Lambarena is here with us with some ways to avoid balance transfer credit card mistakes.

Everyone knows that we've got high inflation, high interest rates. People are really hitting up their credit cards because times are tough for a lot of households. And something appealing may be moving your high interest from one credit card to another that has maybe zero APR. You can run into some trouble with some of these things, though. So we want to kind of go over some of the mistakes to avoid.

The first being, this one that I see right here is trying to transfer a balance between cards with the same issuer. Let's just go into that. That's something you probably want to avoid. Yes. You actually even transfer a balance with the same credit card issuer. So this is when it might make sense to open a balance transfer credit card with the new issuer.

Sometimes if you have a different credit card with another issuer, they might send you offers via email or in your email inbox. And this might be helpful in letting you use an existing line of credit to take advantage of a 0% balance transfer offer. Okay, that makes sense. And sometimes you might be missing the balance transfer deadline. Let's get into that.

That might be something that people aren't aware of. When you're trying to transfer a balance, you typically have somewhere between 30 and 120 days to complete that transfer. So if that's your main goal, you want to make sure to act quickly so that you can take advantage of all of the benefits and make sure that you still qualify and are able to complete that transfer.

Sure. And just like anything else, there are hidden fees left and right, and you could miss the fact that you're not taking into account that there is a balance transfer fee, right? Yes. The balance transfer fee is one thing that people sometimes fail to consider and it can be a little bit tricky. You have to compare that costs with the amount of interest that you're already paying and projected to pay over time.

So you want to factor in the transfer fee that might be 3% or 5% of the total amount transferred. And compare if it's going to save you money compared to the amount of interest you'll pay over several months. And Nerdwallet has a calculator that can help you weigh these costs. Okay. Thank you for bringing that up, because that's very important, because a lot of this stuff can be overwhelming for sure.

This is one that I have heard of people encountering in the past, overestimating how much debt that can be transferred. Let's get into that. Yes, a balance transfer limits is very different from your cards credit limit. It's significantly lower where you can only transfer as much as that balance transfer limit permits. So you want to be mindful of that.

This means that you might not get to transfer all of the debt that you were hoping to do, do so, and you might have to come up with another plan, a different plan for that balance that might be leftover that you couldn't transfer. Sure. And when you're planning things out and planning out your finances and budgeting, just kind of with any credit card or any bill you have, you need to and probably want to make more than the minimum payment, especially when it comes to those balance transfers.

Right. Thinking more than the minimum is always a great idea. And that is one common mistake that people might make with a balance transfer because you're not paying interest in that promotional period. But the goal of this card is to make sure that you make a debt in that balance, and by paying more than the minimum, you'll be able to do so.

You want to make sure that you take the total balance and divide it by the number of months within that promotional period and contribute that amount monthly to make sure that it's paid off once that promotion expires. Sure. And speaking of making those smarter financial decisions, so you've moved your hefty balance from one card to the next. You've now got zero IPR, a little bit of breathing room.

Some may be tempted to continue spending on that now freed up original card. Right. And of course, it's got to be something you want to avoid. Yes, you definitely want to avoid this. It will delay your progress. And not only that, if you think about the mindset, right, you're looking and hoping for that balance to decrease over time.

If you see it continue to build up. What is that going to do to your motivation as well? So it can delay your goals in several different ways and you just want to make sure that you keep that card with the goal of paying it down and maybe consider other options. Switching to debit or cash for other expenses.

And that can make a huge difference in final thing here, while balance transfers may be a beautiful tool and very helpful in a time of need and actually a good financial decision when it comes down to it, it's not the overall debt management solution for your finances, right? That's right. A balance transfer credit card can be a great tool for getting out of debt, but it's important to come up with a plan to prevent that debt cycle for repeating.

And this might mean that you do your budget and make any necessary changes or work to an emergency fund or any other changes that might keep debt up. It's important to be able to have your finances in order to make sure that the cycle doesn't keep repeating. Sure, it's that lifestyle change stuff that's welcome to adulthood. You got to kind of pivot where necessary.

Okay, Melissa, anything else you want to add about balance transfer between credit cards, benefits, anything like that? You can use your time to shine. Anything you want to add when considering a balance transfer credit card, make sure that you weigh all the cost. The ideal balance transfer credit card should have no annual be a 0% introductory EPR. That's long enough to help you pay down your debt and a low balance transfer free fee, which is typically 3% or less.

Well, beautiful. Thank you so much.

 

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