 The open enrollment period for Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) and Health Savings Accounts (HSA) is approaching. During the enrollment period, employees can enroll in or amend their contributions for the future year for FSAs and HSAs, which they can use to pay for their healthcare-related expenses. We dedicated today’s episode to taking a deep dive into several vital facts related to FSA, Dependent care FSA, HSA, and the numerous ways to maximize your workplace benefits under each of them. [04:37] Flexible Spending Account (FSA) - Grant explains what FSA means, how it works, and who can contribute. [07:55] Plan the Health Expenses – Why it is essential to forecast the health expenses to pay them on a tax-deferred basis through FSA versus paying out of pocket. [09:18] Spend the Fund at Pharmacy – Beneficial features of FSAs, such as the ability to spend the funds at a pharmacy, and why having this option is significant. [10:10] Dependent Care FSA – Grant explains the purpose of a Dependent Care FSA, its benefits, and several facts to keep in mind if you are considering using one. [15:30] HSA – How to contribute to and HSA and the fantastic tax benefits and investment opportunities that come along with it [19:12] Eligibility for HSA – Grant explains the eligibility requirements for HSAs, including having a High-Deductible Health Plan (HDHP). [26:00] Connection to the employer - Grant discusses the connection between your HSA and your employer, and why employees can take their balance with them when they’re switching employers.   Resources: What Is a Flexible Spending Account (FSA)? investopedia.com/terms/f/flexiblespendingaccount.asp What Is a Health Savings Account (HSA)? investopedia.com/terms/h/hsa.asp 

Grow Money Business with Grant Bledsoe

Ep #99 - Maximizing Workplace Benefits with FSAs & HSAs

With the open enrollment period set to start on October 15th 2021, this is a great time to dive deep into the vital facts related to Medicare. In today’s episode, we have a distinguished guest, Danielle Roberts, joining us. Danielle is a co-owner of Boomer Benefits, a firm dedicated to helping senior citizens make confident decisions when enrolling into Medicare, as well as the author of the best-selling book “10 Costly Medicare Mistakes You Can’t Afford to Make”. Throughout this episode, Danielle shares her wisdom on all the crucial points you need to know if you intend to enroll in Medicare. [02:25] Danielle’s Background - Danielle introduces herself and explains what they do at Boomer Benefits. [04:00] Common Mistakes - Danielle shares some of the most common mistakes she sees people make when enrolling for Medicare, and what you can do to avoid them. [08:01] Parts of Medicare – Parts A, B, C, and D of Medicare and the differences between them. [10:49] Medigap Plan and Medicare Advantage Plan - Danielle broadly describes the role of Medicare Advantage policy and the Medigap plans while highlighting their differences. [16:59] Most Suitable Plan for You - Though 34% of beneficiaries choose Medicare advantage plans, Danielle explains how to be mindful when making the best decision for you. [21:47] Subsequent Changes to the Plan – Danielle’s suggestions on how beneficiaries can change their enrolled plans in subsequent years. [26:48] Switching Between Medigap Policies - Possible ways to switch between different Medigap policies and the procedures you’ll need to follow. [28:59] Eligibility Criteria for Medicare - Danielle outlines the eligibility criteria for enrolling in Medicare. [32:23] Medicare Fund - The correlation between the reserves in the Medicare fund and the benefits Medicare offers. [38:08] Single-payer System - Danielle shares her insights on the rising health care costs and the viability of a single-payer system. [42:23] Pharmaceuticals and Drugs - Grant and Danielle discuss some of the current trends in the pharmaceuticals industry and the business interests that may affect Medicare. [47:09] Boomer Benefits - Danielle talks about how Boomer Benefits helps people with Medicare basics, benefits, and coverage.     Resources Connect with Danielle Roberts: Website: boomerbenefits.com/ YouTube: youtube.com/c/BoomerBenefits Facebook Page: facebook.com/BoomerBenefits Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/BoomerBenefits LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/daniellekunkle/   Mentioned in the episode: 10 Costly Medicare Mistakes You Can’t Afford to Make: goodreads.com/book/show/55204934-10-costly-medicare-mistakes-you-can-t-afford-to-make?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=1Wia7eTzTY&rank=1 The United States Social Security Website: ssa.gov/ Official U.S. government site for Medicare: medicare.gov/

Ep #98 - Everything You Need to Know About Medicare With Danielle Roberts

 A lot has happened in the cryptocurrency arena since we last covered this topic on Grow Money Business. Last week China announced that they are banning all activities in cryptocurrency while a month ago, El-Salvador announced that it would accept Bitcoin as a legal tender. In today's episode, Grant shares his current thoughts and observations on cryptocurrency-related developments in the United States and around the world. [02:46] Recent Events - Grant starts the conversation by briefly explaining the impact of both China and El Salvador’s approaches to using cryptocurrency. [05:17] Benefits of Cryptocurrency - The benefits of cryptocurrency and why it is an appealing and convenient alternative for existing currency issues. [07:05] Growing Chinese Economy - Grant compares the pace of China's economic growth to the USA and reviews its intention of overtaking the USA as a world economic power. [08:50] World Reserve Currency - Grant dives into the world reserve currency from numerous perspectives, including economic privileges that it opens for certain countries and why the USA needs US dollars as the world reserve currency. [12:45] China and Cryptocurrency - The cryptocurrency activities in China before the government-imposed ban and Grant’s take on the reasons behind that government action. [14:46] El Salvador and Cryptocurrency - El Salvador's economic background and impacts on the country's social context by encouraging citizens to transact in Bitcoin. [15:52] Benefits and Challenges for El Salvador - The possible future occurrences related to cryptocurrency, as well as Grant’s take on the probable risks and benefits El Salvador may experience with the decision to accept cryptocurrency. [18:40] Future Cryptocurrency Approach of Countries - The future measures of the world, and how China's recent decision has knocked the price of cryptocurrencies. [21:00] Increasing Credibility and Viability of Cryptocurrency - Grant explains the widespread adoption of cryptocurrency at the institutional level and how it has enhanced the credibility and viability of cryptocurrencies. [22:58] Bitcoin and Ethereum - Cryptocurrency consists of numerous types of coins, including Bitcoins and Ethereum. Grant reveals his thoughts on the benefits and usage of each. [28:01] Conclusion - Grant sums up his takes on recent changes of monetary and economic policies related to cryptocurrency and how countries will decide and set rules regarding cryptocurrency in the coming future. 

Ep #97 - My Current Thinking on Cryptocurrency

As we covered in the previous episode of Grow Money Business, the House Ways & Means Committee recently released proposed tax reform legislation that brings significant changes to the current levels of taxation. This week, Grant dives into five strategies you can utilize to take advantage of the substantial changes introduced by the proposed tax bill and reduce your tax liability. Throughout the episode, Grant reviews some of the sections of the tax code that will likely be updated by the new legislation and actions you can take within this year to make the best of the current tax code. [01:52] Background and Progress - Grant starts the conversation with a brief review of the previous episode, explaining why he believes that the proposed tax bill is more likely to be passed in its current form. [06:11] Profit Distributions From S-Corps - The new proposed legislation reforms a set of provisions that will tax S-Corporations’ profit distribution at a higher rate. Grant emphasizes the necessity of delaying expenses and increasing the income for this year. [08:51] Estate Taxation - Grant dives into the effects of the proprosed provisions for estate taxation, revocable and irrevocable trusts, and how to take advantage of the current thresholds and exemptions [13:15] Grantor Trust – The proposed legislation includes some provisions that take away some of the planning opportunities related to trusts that are currently available for taxpayers. Grant shares his take on how to prepare for these upcoming changes. [18:14] Family Limited Partnership - Grant shares his thoughts on taking advantage of a family limited partnership’s marketability and minority ownership discounts for estate planning. [23:22] Roth Conversions – The new legislation comes with several changes to the Roth conversions. Grant discusses the importance of the pro-rata rule, which you need to keep in mind if you’re planning to do a Roth conversion of pre-tax dollars. [33:01] High-Income Earners - High-income earners will have to pay higher tax rates with the proposed tax bill. Grant scrutinizes the necessity of having fewer deductions to increase the income under the current tax rate.   Resources : Ep #95 - We Have a New Tax Bill [And It’s a Whopper] growmoneybusiness.com/podcast/ptkre5734rgwc54-76ljd-pspcd-xjl22-lxhcs-dx3w5-dgzp2-kjz2x-57e67-mcz3k-wnrkw-8h6dh-t6hph-7n739-2h5cn-t6nay-jdp3r-tatwr-ljb5n-4rx52-n6phz-e7nzp-yfzt2-2c6x6-x6t5y-lnn4l-ygrkk-a546s-tn4hg

Ep #96 - 5 Year End Financial Moves to Make With the Tax Bill Looming

The House Ways & Means Committee recently released proposed tax reform legislation that brings major changes to the current levels of taxation, including reversals of several provisions introduced in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. We dedicated this episode to exploring what this new proposal includes and some of the key aspects of the proposal that may interest our listeners. Throughout the episode, Grant dives deep into proposed provisions related to retirement, new tax brackets, business tax, tax on cryptocurrency, estate planning, and more.   [02:19] Background and Progress – Grant starts the conversation with a brief review of what led to this new proposed piece of legislation, its current status, and the path to getting it signed into law. [08:16] Roth IRA Conversions – The proposed tax bill calls to prohibit Roth IRA conversions on after-tax contributions, which has been a very convenient maneuver for tax planning. Grant shares his thoughts on what to keep in mind if you’re considering a Roth IRA conversion. [12:35] High-Income Earners – The new tax bill also brings provisions to restrict high-income earners from doing any Roth IRA conversions starting from 2031. Grant dives into the reasoning behind this, why this provision is proposed to come into effect ten years from now, and some other restrictions that apply to high-income earners. [16:27] Mandatory Distributions – How the proposed new legislation mandates taking money out of your retirement accounts if the total value of all your retirement accounts exceeds a given threshold. [20:00] Tax Brackets and Rates – Grant dives into how the tax brackets and applicable tax rates are updated in the proposed legislation and proposed changes to taxation on capital gains. [27:47] Ultra-high Income – Grant shares his take on the 3 percent surtax proposed to apply for people who make over $5 million. [29:47] Surtax on Trusts – The proposed legislation also brings provisions to add a surtax on trusts. Grant talks about the proposed tax brackets and rates related to trusts and what you should keep in mind when considering estate planning. [31:08] Business Tax – How the proposed tax bill affects businesses depending on the type of business entity and some of the planning opportunities that emerge with the new proposal. [35:35] Busines Income Deductions – The new proposed legislation reforms a set of provisions related to business deductions that are introduced in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Grant explains some of these reforms and what business owners should keep in mind about tax planning. [39:02] Cryptocurrency Assets – Some of the tax-related legislations that apply to other assets such as stocks and bonds do not currently apply to cryptocurrency assets. Grant shares his thoughts on how that may change in the new proposed tax bill and what crypto investors show know about the new tax bill. [42:26] Estate Planning – Another provision in the proposed tax bill brings some significant changes to taxes related to estate planning. Grant dives into what these updates include and what you should keep in mind about taking advantage of the current thresholds and exemptions.   Resources: https://waysandmeans.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/chairman-neal-announces-additional-days-markup-build-back-better-act

Ep #95 - We Have a New Tax Bill [And It’s a Whopper]

Following the financial crisis of 2009, we entered one of the longest running bull markets in history. During this time, the Federal Reserve has injected a massive amount of US dollars into the monetary system, which has driven up the value of capital assets across the board. If you’re someone who holds equities or other assets at a substantial gain, you might be hesitant to sell them because of tax concerns. In today’s episode, Grant dives into four strategies you can use for exposure to appreciated assets and/or taxation when selling at a gain. [02:29] Concentration and Risk – Why it’s risky to hold on to assets for too long and why it can be beneficial to repurpose your assets at the right time. [07:57] Exchange Fund – Exchange funds can be used to diversify your holdings without triggering a taxable event. Grant shares his thoughts on the pros and cons of this method. [13:28] Options – How to use stock options to reduce the risk of losing the value of your holdings during price fluctuations. [20:05] Donor-advised Funds – Grant explores how donor-advised funds work and how investors can get tax benefits while contributing to charity. [28:58] Charitable Remainder Trust – How charitable remainder trusts work, how they differ from donor-advised funds, and how to get started with them. [34:38] Family & Insurance –Grant shares some ways you can reinvest the benefits of a charitable remainder trust to avoid financial stress within your family.   Resources: Donor-Advised Funds: irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-organizations/donor-advised-funds Convert Appreciated Assets into Income with a Charitable Remainder Trust: schwabcharitable.org/maximize-your-impact/develop-a-giving-strategy/align-your-giving-vehicles/charitable-remainder-trust

Ep #94 - 4 Tactics for Reducing Capital Gains Taxes on Appreciated Assets

Having outstanding student loans at the age of 50 versus earlier in your career will have a very different impact on your financial status. In today’s episode, we have a distinguished guest who specializes in helping people over the age of 50 to repay their student loans. Erik Kroll, Certified Financial Planner® and the owner of studentloansover50.com joins us to explain different strategies to manage your student loans, as well as how that approach changes with time. [02:02] Student Loans Over 50 – We start the conversation with a brief review of Erik’s background, the work he’s doing as a financial planner, and what lead him into specializing in student loans. [04:45] Age and Student Loans – The differences between having student loans as a fresh graduate versus having student loans at the age of 50 and how our life priorities in come into play. [08:28] Forgiveness – Erik dives into important considerations for student loan forgiveness, including different options, qualification criteria, and taxation. [15:12] Accumulating Debt – Common patterns for individuals over 50 with student loans, including Parent Plus loans, post-graduate education, and career changes. [22:03] Double Consolidation – Erik explains the process of utilizing consolidation and other strategies to reduce monthly loan payments. [29:10] Rehabilitation – The path to rehabilitation and qualifying for forgiveness after your loans have gone to debt collection. [34:18] Student Loans Over 50 Playbook – Erik shares his thoughts on what led him to create his eBook and what readers can learn from it. [37:11] Recent Developments – Erik shares his take on some of President Joe Biden’s recently proposed loan forgiveness provisions. [41:07] Private Loans – The pros and cons to a private refinance, and important things to consider when making this decision.     Resources: Connect with Erik: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/erikkroll Website & Ebook: studentloansover50.com Past episodes on Student Loans: Episode #34: Why College Is So Expensive & How to Pay For It With Robert Farrington growmoneybusiness.com/podcast/episode-11-everything-health-benefits-with-andrea-murphrey-pzzen-g67ey-ss2ty-s4854-933az-z4ly8-34898-fanhf-tez4y-cswex-s2t4a-lpbw4-b9sjs-wwtln-f2ltc-a4x47-mdg83-a8gh3-f5fje-d7sn5-22dy3-y3k44-2a3b7 Episode #90: This is Exactly What to Do With Your Student Loans growmoneybusiness.com/podcast/ptkre5734rgwc54-76ljd-pspcd-xjl22-lxhcs-dx3w5-dgzp2-kjz2x-57e67-mcz3k-wnrkw-8h6dh-t6hph-7n739-2h5cn-t6nay-jdp3r-tatwr-ljb5n-4rx52-n6phz-e7nzp-yfzt2-2c6x6

Ep #93 - Managing Student Loans When You're Over 50 With Erik Kroll

Many of us appreciate the concept of having some money reserved and saved to be used for unexpected expenses. However, deciding how much to reserve or where to keep this money can be tricky. We dedicated this episode to exploring why you should maintain an emergency fund, how to decide the optimal amount of money to save for an emergency fund, potential investment options that can be safe, liquid, and accessible while giving you the greatest possible returns. [02:09] Managing Emergency Cash – Why it’s crucial for everyone to set aside some emergency funds and why it’s important to keep your emergency cash in the right place. [05:23] How Much to Save – Grant shares a method of estimating how much you should save as an emergency fund based on your income, expenses, and risk tolerance. [08:31] Too Much in Cash - Grant shares his take on why it’s a better idea to have your emergency savings as investments rather than cash lying around and the key characteristics of an ideal investment method for an emergency fund. [12:17] CD Ladder & High Yield Savings – How you can make the best of your emergency cash by using multiple Certificates of Deposit and how to take advantage of high yield savings accounts. [16:36] Money Market Mutual Funds – How money market mutual funds work, how they’re different from money market savings accounts, and some of the recent reforms related to money market mutual funds. [24:14] Types of Money Market Funds – How the reforms related to money market funds led to the creation of two separate types of money market funds, the differences between the two types, and what you should keep in mind about parking your emergency cash in one of the two types. [28:24] Government Funds – The feasibility of parking your emergency cash in government funds and how you can utilize multiple methods of investments to avoid the disadvantages of using only one method of investment.   Resources: Money-Market Funds Buckled in Two Crises in a Row. Regulators Look to Fix Them Again: wsj.com/articles/money-market-funds-buckled-in-two-crises-in-a-row-regulators-look-to-fix-them-again-11626687001 Firms Wary as Money-Market Rule Changes Studied After Covid-19 Run: wsj.com/articles/firms-wary-as-money-market-rule-changes-studied-after-covid-19-run-11630056602

Ep #92 - Money Funds & Where to Park Your Emergency Cash

Every now and then, we see new trends emerging in the investment markets. And one of the trends we’ve been recently observing is the tendency of mutual fund managers to convert their fund structure to Exchange-Traded Funds. Throughout this episode, Grant reviews the structures of mutual funds and ETFs, what makes them different from each other, the reasons why it makes sense for mutual fund managers to switch to ETFs, and what investors should keep in mind about mutual funds being converted to ETFs. [01:43] Mutual Funds – Grant reviews how mutual funds are structured and how the mutual fund managers use funds from a group of investors to generate greater returns than what individual investors have the capacity to generate on their own. [08:42] Limitations – Limitation of mutual funds and how these limitations may create unfavorable situations for mutual fund managers in some scenarios. [13:50] Understanding ETFs – What led to the creation of Exchange-traded Funds, how they work, and the difference between mutual funds and ETFs. [21:51] Benefits – Grant dives into the attractive characteristics and tax benefits of exchange-traded funds. [25:00] Popularity of ETFs – Grant shares his thoughts on how ETFs became popular in the last decade and the trend of some mutual funds being converted to ETFs. [30:00] Why Investors Should Care – How this trend of mutual fund managers converting their structure to ETFs affects the investors in terms of expenses, taxation, benefits, and what to do if their mutual funds are being converted.   Resources: Investor Bulletin: Mutual Fund Conversion to Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF): investor.gov/introduction-investing/general-resources/news-alerts/alerts-bulletins/mutual-fund-conversion-exchange-traded-fund Making the Switch: Turning a Mutual Fund into an Exchange-Traded Fund: bbh.com/us/en/insights/investor-services-insights/making-the-switch-turning-a-mutual-fund-into-an-exchangetraded.html

Ep #91 - Why Mutual Fund Managers Are Converting to ETFs

With roughly 44 million borrowers that collectively owe nearly $1.7 trillion, student loans, the second-highest consumer debt category, has become something that’s pervasive for young people in the United States. We dedicated this episode to exploring some of the ways borrowers can make their student loan repayment manageable. Throughout the episode, Grant dives into how the interest rates and other characteristics vary depending on the lender, repayment options, income-based repayment, federal student loan forgiveness, and more. Stay tuned until the end of the episode, where Grant shares some strategies to reduce your monthly payments by suppressing your adjusted gross income. [01:43] Background – The pervasive nature of the U.S. student loan programs and why they have become pervasive.  [05:10] Who Lent You the Money – Grant explains how the interest rates and repayment options may vary depending on the institution that is underwriting a student loan. [07:38] Repayment & Refinancing -  Once students have graduated and their forbearance period has finished, it’s time to paying back the student loans. Grant explores some of the options available for students at this point and how to decide whether to refinance with a private lender. [10:19] Staying in the Federal System – Although it might make sense in some cases to refinance with a private lender, staying in the federal system has its own benefits. We talk about what these benefits are and how students can take advantage of staying in the federal system. [13:07] Income-based Repayment – How the income-based repayment programs work, requirements for eligibility, and how they help people make their monthly payments manageable. [18:13] Forgiveness – One of the features in income based-repayment is being able to get your debt forgiven after a certain number of years. Grant dives deep into how debt forgiveness works, how taxation comes into play at the point when the debt is forgiven, and what to consider when deciding whether to pursue forgiveness. [22:32] Administrative Forbearance – As a part of the stimulus package introduced under the CARES Act, an additional forbearance period was introduced for student loans. Grant shares his thoughts on how to take this into consideration when making decisions about student loan repayment. [27:15] Strategy for the Federal System – Grant shares some strategies for those who are in the federal system to make loan payments manageable by suppressing their adjusted gross income.   Resources: Episode #34: Why College Is So Expensive & How to Pay For It With Robert Farrington: podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9ncm93bW9uZXlidXNpbmVzcy5saWJzeW4uY29tL3Jzcw/episode/YWI0YzM1ZDYtYmJlNS00NThlLThlM2ItN2Q3OWVkNGEyY2U0?sa=X&ved=0CA0QkfYCahcKEwjYxof6_bfyAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ  

Ep #90 - This Is Exactly What To Do With Your Student Loans

This week on the podcast, we’re continuing our mini-series of podcast episodes dedicated to debunking popular misconceptions around investing by exploring the truth about whether U.S. multinational securities provide enough international exposure for your portfolio. Throughout today’s episode, we dive deep into why international exposure benefits investors, how the differences of key aspects between the U.S economy and other countries influence the returns of an investment, methods of accurately evaluating the potential of foreign investments, and how you can avoid some of the biases that negatively affect our financial decision making. [2:50] Diversification – Why people feel that they have ample diversification in their portfolios and what they’re missing out on by only investing in U.S. corporations. [04:00] U.S. Economy vs. Other Countries – Grant reviews some key aspects of world economies that make some other countries such as China grow rapidly, compared to The United States. [9:40] P/E Ratio – Grant explains what the P/E ratio is, how you can use cyclically-adjusted P/E ratio to assess the potential returns of stocks, and why it’s better than just looking at the historical performance of stocks. [16:14] Correlations – Securities markets have some trends and behaviors that show correlations between U.S securities and foreign securities. Grant talks about why investors should invest in international securities despite these correlations. [21:05] Diversification of Currency – Why investing in companies that do business transactions in a diverse selection of currencies can be beneficial to investors in the long term. [22:52] Dealing with Biases – How certain psychological characteristics of the human brain can get in the way of making savvy investment decisions and how to avoid these traps.   Resources: Morningstar: Does International-Stock Diversification Still Work? morningstar.com/articles/1034112/does-international-stock-diversification-still-work Hartford Funds Chart on the Performance of International Stocks: hartfordfunds.com/dam/en/docs/pub/whitepapers/CCWP014.pdf The Wall Street Journal - Why It Might Be Time to Invest in Non-U.S. Stocks: wsj.com/articles/why-it-might-be-time-to-invest-in-non-u-s-stocks-11596900477 

Ep #89 - Investing Myths #4 - U.S. Multinationals Provide Enough International Exposure

Securities lending is one of the widely misunderstood concepts in the investment community, and securities lending shows up intermittently in the news for both positive and negative reasons. However, this complex trading pattern driven by short selling can drive down costs for the investors. In today’s episode, Grant dives deep into how securities lending works, the different parties involved in it and their roles, how investors participate in securities lending, and how it impacts the performance and costs of ETFs and mutual funds. [02:40] Understanding Securities Lending – How securities lending works and how it relates to investment funds that many people put their money in and how it generates revenue for brokerage firms. [07:13] Trading Settlement – The process of trading securities is a bit more complex than it looks from the outside. Grant reviews how trade settlements work and how securities lending comes into play. [12:50] Short-squeeze – How unexpected fluctuations in stock price can cause investors to lose money in certain scenarios. [13:47] Driven by Short Selling – Grant reviews how securities lending transactions between several parties create a complex ecosystem that facilitates short selling and how the demand for securities lending is driven by short selling. [16:23] Supply and Demand – How brokerage firms can make money through securities lending depending on the demand for shares. [19:10] Sources of Supply – Grant explains the sources brokerage firms use to get the securities they lend to other parties and how investors can make money by lending securities to brokerage firms in some scenarios. [21:40] ETFs and Mutual Funds – How ETFs and mutual funds are involved in securities lending as another source of supply and how it benefits investors by reducing expenses. [27:20] Facilitating Short Selling – A common argument about securities lending is that you may not want your shares to be lent out because you don’t want to facilitate short selling in a company that you own. Grant shares his take on the relevance of this idea.   Resources: My Take On Short Selling: www.abovethecanopy.us/my-take-on-short-selling/

Ep #88 - How Securities Lending Drives Down Investment Costs

In today’s episode we’re diving into ten behavioral biases that negatively impact your investment decision-making. Throughout the episode, we explore the psychological background of these ten behaviors, how they get in the way of sound investment decision-making, and how you can be conscious about your financial decisions so that you won’t make mistakes because of them. [3:10] Oversimplification – Grant explains what happens when our brains are overwhelmed and are trying to process information in the most efficient way by oversimplifying complex scenarios in an attempt to break them down into bite-sized pieces, ultimately leading to poor investment decisions. [6:15] Restraint – When we come across an opportunity that we think is beneficial to us, it’s very hard to show restraint. The problem that gets in the way of our sound investment decision-making is our overestimation of our ability to show restraint. Grant explains how this practically affected the cryptocurrency market. [8:53] Familiarity – People naturally trend toward investments that they know and are familiar with. Grant dives into how this can negatively affect your investments and how to avoid falling into this trap. [11:20] Incentive Bias – How some of the systemic features in our financial systems, in some cases, lead people to make poor decisions and how the general public can identify these incentives that could potentially lead them toward poor investment decisions. [14:40] Self Attribution Bias – Grant dives into one of the behaviors in which our egos play a major role. He explains how this behavior is largely visible among daytraders and how to be aware of this trait of human brains. [18:05] Information Bias – Picking reliable data is crucial for making savvy investment decisions. For instance, not being able to grasp the difference between correlation and causation can lead to disastrous investment decisions. We talk about why we need to be vigilant about the information we consume. [20:55] Groupthink – Since humans naturally like to be in groups, it can be extremely uncomfortable to make a decision that severely deviates from what everyone else is doing. In investments, succeeding in some scenarios may require exactly that. Grant explains how we can grow beyond the herd mentality while being open to new ideas to make savvy investment decisions. [24:30] Anchoring Bias – When we take time and energy to research something and come to a decision, we like to be anchored on that decision, making us less open to ideas that are contrary to our decision. This tendency to remain anchored on our original decision is something that simply gets in the way of making sound decisions. [26:50] Loss Aversion – The losses in our investment accounts feel worse than the gains feel good. And because of that, people make investment decisions very commonly, in an attempt to avoid the losses, without appreciating the opportunity for potential gains in the same manner. Grant explains why you should try to avoid this behavior in your decision-making. [28:40] Confirmation Bias – How our minds tend to cherry-pick certain information in an attempt to process information efficiently, how it affects our investment decisions and how to avoid making mistakes that occur due to confirmation bias.   Resources: Investing Myths #3: You Need To Keep Up With the Financial News: growmoneybusiness.com/podcast/ptkre5734rgwc54-76ljd-pspcd-xjl22-lxhcs-dx3w5-dgzp2-kjz2x-57e67-mcz3k-wnrkw-8h6dh-t6hph-7n739-2h5cn-t6nay-jdp3r-tatwr-ljb5n

Ep #87 - Top 10 List: Behavior Biases Impacting Your Investing

Commercial real estate is something many investors seem to be interested in both as an asset class as well as a place for operating their businesses. Justin Smith, a broker, industrial advisor, and author, joins us today to talk about investing in commercial real estate. Throughout today’s episode, we explore what investing in commercial real estate is like as an asset class and what business owners who are considering buying buildings for their own businesses need to consider prior to day one and from day one to the day that the business no longer occupies the building. Stay tuned until the end of the episode, where Justin shares some strategies that help real estate investors with taxation.   [2:50] Justin’s Background – Justin has been working at Lee and Associates for 17 years, focusing primarily on industrial property. We talk about how Justin got into the real estate industry and what he learned through his long career. [9:40] Buying a Building - Justin explains where to start if you’re looking for a building to buy and how the process differs according to the type of business, type of property, and whether it’s a lease or ownership. [20:05] Transition From Tenant to Owner - Switching roles from the tenant to owner often calls for some construction work. Justin explains what potential property owners should know about working with contractors and other parties and maintaining compliance. [26:55] Selling the Current Building and Purchasing the Next - What business owners need to think about when selling their current building to move to another and how their options differ based on liquidity, capacity, and capital. [34:41] Potential Property - What makes a potential property or building an attractive investment in a portfolio, and what to look for in a potential real estate investment in terms of its cash flow. [42:45] 1031 Exchange - Justin shares his thoughts on the future of the 1031 exchange, which gives business owners an option to avoid paying capital gains taxes when selling a property and reinvesting in similar properties. [46:30] Tips for Pure Investors – Justin shares some tax strategies for people who are looking at real estate as a pure investment. [49:00] Industrial Intelligence – Justin’s book, Industrial Intelligence: The Executive’s Guide for Making Informed Commercial Real Estate Decisions, came out last April. We talk about what he covers in the book and how it helps investors make smarter decisions for real estate investments.         Resources:   Industrial Intelligence: The Executive’s Guide for Making Informed Commercial Real Estate Decisions amazon.com/Industrial-Intelligence-Executives-Commercial-Decisions/dp/1544519923 Connect with Justin Smith LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/justinbsmith Website: smithcre.com

Ep #86 - Buying the Building Your Business Will Operate in With Justin Smith

The concept that you need to keep up with the financial media in order to succeed in investing is an extremely popular belief among novice investors. However, in some cases, closely following financial media may influence your financial decisions in ways that aren’t in your best interests. Throughout today’s episode, Grant dives into how mainstream financial news can be misleading, why it isn’t necessary to keep up with financial media in order to be successful in investing, and how to choose sources that give you quality financial information. [2:40] The Myth – Although more knowledge is good, getting into deep details of things via mainstream financial news might tempt you to make short-term tactical adjustments to your portfolio. Grant dives into how this occurs and why it results in bad outcomes. [3:40] Strategic Strategies vs. Tactical Strategies – Grant shares his thoughts on why savvy investors focus more on strategic strategies than short-term tactical actions. [6:42] Clickbait Headlines – How digital media business models based on advertising negatively affect the quality of journalism and how this behavior influences users to follow unreliable and biased financial advice. [8:55] “If you’re not paying, you are the product” – Grant explains how free news sources may often contain misleading information and why Grant always tries to digest financial information from sources he pays for. [10:25] Social Media  – Grant shares his thoughts on investment-related misinformation that are being shared on social media platforms and how to be mindful about misleading financial news.   Resources: Investing Myths #2: It’s Dangerous to Invest At All-Time Highs: growmoneybusiness.com/podcast/ptkre5734rgwc54-76ljd-pspcd-xjl22-lxhcs-dx3w5-dgzp2-kjz2x-57e67-mcz3k-wnrkw-8h6dh-t6hph-7n739-2h5cn-t6nay Investing Myths #1: Rising Rates Will Crush Your Bond Portfolio: growmoneybusiness.com/podcast/ptkre5734rgwc54-76ljd-pspcd-xjl22-lxhcs-dx3w5-dgzp2-kjz2x-57e67-mcz3k-wnrkw-8h6dh-t6hph-7n739-2h5cn-t6nay

Ep #85 - Investing Myths #3: You Need To Keep Up With the Financial News

Welcome to Grow Money Business with Grant Bledsoe, the podcast dedicated to helping business owners grow their wealth and business on their own terms. Grant is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ who helps business owners optimize and align their personal finances, business, and values. He’s also the founder of Three Oaks Capital Management, a registered investment advisory (RIA) firm. Throughout this podcast Grant will be interviewing entrepreneurs and business professionals to bring you valuable ideas to help you grow your business & wealth.

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Grow Money Business with Grant Bledsoe

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