Bloomberg Money: Premium Travel, Fast Fashion, Luxury at the US Open & The Cost of College

14:59Brian Kelly:So even if you're paying your balances off, Amex wants that. You know, they certainly still make money on interest, but that interchange fee is still very lucrative and they get you on other products. So this whole rewards ecosystem is very lucrative for banks. All the banks are doing well. The airlines who have leaned into it are doing well. And I argue in my book that consumers can do well, too, as long as you know how to play the game, pay the bills off, avoid interest. and then maximize the redemption of those points.

15:22Dana Telsey:However, right now in this economy, a lot of consumers are not doing that well. And it's a sign of the times that people are increasingly using the points that they accumulate to pay for food and gas rather than trips to Italy, for instance. Are you seeing more people use their points for daily necessities?

15:37Brian Kelly:No, I actually think in the airline space, we're seeing airlines all retrofit their planes, have more business class, more premium economy. So while the broader economy, you know, there are sectors struggling, the premium travelers are driving. What did you do, read her script? Bring it up, Luigi. Come on. Kelly's way out front here. The money must read with Brian Kelly. This is from his website. He was traveling somewhere for$58 and didn't write this. How many first-class seats? It's too many. Delta, a whopping 44 recliners, 11 rows, almost half the aircraft. They expect to offer 8 % more premium seats.

16:13Brian Kelly:When does the economy die? Yeah. I mean, they keep making the economy tighter and tighter. because there are still, you know, cost focused travelers. But as we saw with Spirit, the purely economy budget airline model does not work in the U.S. with expensive oil, with expensive airports. You know, Ryanair is the model that works in Europe. That's because they go to these third rate airports. We don't have those in New York City. We don't have those across the U.S. So the airlines, you know, we just saw JetBlue is putting first class. They just announced Frontier. You know, everyone is going premium.

16:46Brian Kelly:That is how you win in travel.

16:47Dana Telsey:Southwest has its new lounge network that it's launching with Chase as well. Is there a ceiling to credit card annual fees? Because we're rapidly approaching four figures. We're not there yet. Amex Platinum is$895. Is there a level that you see at which consumers would just resist paying that fee?

17:02Brian Kelly:It depends. I mean, we've seen last year was big increases with Sapphire Reserve, Amex Platinum. My understanding, if you look at the public results of those companies, are doing quite well. And certainly, they'll have a drop-off. Not everyone wants to pay$900 or$800. But then what happens is they go to the other products. You know, the Amex Gold card is 4X on dining and groceries at a much lower annual fee. That's actually a better points card for most people. So some people might realize, hey, platinum might not be for me. But, you know, so they still stay within the Amex family. You wanted to run from this because you're such a premium guy.

17:34Brian Kelly:What's the biggest flight you've ever done where you went for$48 to the moon? What was the biggest Brian Kelly, you know, wealth management fight? You know, I redeem all the time. I love, I mean, the Air France example, because it still exists. Anyone can book these Air France 60 ,000 mile rewards. I've done it. Full disclosure. And I love Air France La Premier. So if you have elite status, they pick you up at the plane in Paris. Are you kidding me? So that's 350 ,000 points. That's a splurge. But when you think about it, I can redeem for Air France La Premier for less than what Delta charges business class.

18:10Dana Telsey:Quick question. What's more valuable, points or cash back?

18:13Brian Kelly:points in my opinion it's more fun for you but it's more fun but if you don't want to travel get cash back what i dislike is when people have premium credit cards and then redeem them for gift cards or statement credit that is a losing strategy if you want gift cards just get a two percent cash back card don't pay to have a fancy credit card and then redeem those points for sax gift cards there's a personal finance as carlott mentions earlier ed duffner shops power shop here at Bloomberg. If he's an aisle four buying Wagyu beef, he's not using points. You said they're not using points for groceries and basis.

18:46Brian Kelly:Well, I don't think enough. There's a lot of people on your, you know, there's a lot of points hoarders out there. Very, I know billionaires with, you know, 20 million points in an increasing, I would argue to them just get a cash back card because there are a lot of people who hoard points. There is a certain mentality of let me save them for later. Right. And they will devalue. They will devalue. So if you have too much of a currency you're not using, switch to cash because 2 % cash back is king. And there are Bank of America has a product you can get almost 3 % back. So, you know, I think for wealthy travelers, they want to have that fancy credit card, but a cash back card would be better financially.

19:19Dana Telsey:All right, Brian, stay with us. And later on in the show, we're going to talk about how teens are starting to invest sooner. And according to a survey, the top reason is because they've just want to get started as soon as possible. Compounding. It's all about compounding. All right. This is Bloomberg Money.

19:33Brian Kelly:Does Sephora count as investment?

19:36Dana Telsey:Not for you. Not for me.

19:40Brian Kelly:You're listening to Bloomberg Money. Stay with us with more to come after this. The thing about AI for business, it may not automatically fit the way your business works. At IBM, we've seen this firsthand. But by embedding AI across HR, IT, and procurement processes, we've reduced costs by millions, slash repetitive tasks and freed thousands of hours for strategic work. Now we're helping companies get smarter by putting AI where it actually pays off, deep in the work that moves the business. Let's create smarter business, IBM.

20:23Brian Kelly:Yes, the fish are real. Somebody emailed me and said, they're fake fish. I said, no, they're not. We have like 400 aquarium around the world. whatever. Bloomberg Money on Labor Day, a special edition with Scarlet Foo. Thrilled that you're with us today. And what's so important is after her tearful Olympique, her Olympic coverage at Paris, Celine Dion's doing it again. And only Brian Kelly could fly La Première to Paris to see Salon. Celine, you're really doing it. Celine is a funny story. When I wanted to start the points guy, all my friends, even my parents were like, you can't quit Morgan Stanley.

20:59Brian Kelly:And I believed in. I knew I was onto something and Celine Dion has a song called Taking Chances. And I was walking through Times Square and I listened to the song and I went straight to my boss and I was like, you know, I need to take a chance. And I quit my job. So Celine Dion is the reason why the points guy is what it is today.

21:14Dana Telsey:Okay. You paid for the Celine Dion concert in cash, right? You didn't use points.

21:19Brian Kelly:Well, I used a credit card. Always use credit cards. I never pay cash because credit cards and also the Sapphire Reserve has a StubHub credit. I've used it twice. Yes. Thank you. Yes. Alex Iala of the U.S. Open. So, yeah, so Celine, I will pay. All my flights and hotels are free. So, yeah, I spent big to be front row center because, you know, this is my Olympics. This is your sport.

21:41Dana Telsey:So in 2025, I think you had 28 credit cards. How many do you have in your wallet now?

21:46Brian Kelly:I have about 30 now. I'm keeping it, you know, I'm not going too crazy. There are people with over 100 credit cards, by the way.

21:53Dana Telsey:Do you have a default card?

21:54Brian Kelly:I do. The Built Palladium card. So built, you can now earn points on your mortgage. I have two mortgages and the built palladium, you get two X on everything plus rent or mortgage payment. Is that through Wells Fargo? It was. Now it's through a company called Cardless. So built, because when you think about your everyday spend, most credit cards only give you one point. Yes. Back to the whole inflation thing. There are now credit cards that allow you to earn so many more points than before. So the built palladium at two X on everything is like my solid go to. Not to be Debbie Downer, but I'll be Tom Downer.

22:28Brian Kelly:Is there a downside to this thing? I mean, what's your annual fees on 28 credit cards? Is there a downside where people screw up the Brian Kelly formula? The downside would be on your cards like the Amex Platinum that comes with all these different credits is if you're not taking advantage. And I will admit, even with the Sapphire, you get free Apple Music. And you actually have to go in and click a single button to link your different accounts, which I hadn't done. You haven't done that. I hadn't for a couple of the credits that I thought I was getting. So it takes a little bit. But I, you know, the$795 on the Sapphire card, I get way more than that in value a year from the StubHub, from the travel credit.

23:07Brian Kelly:So I actually think no annual fee cards are a huge waste. My dad always said cheap is expensive. So for the people out there with no annual fee cards and who are spending a lot, you're actually losing value.

23:20Dana Telsey:When was the last time you paid full fare for an airplane flight?

23:24Brian Kelly:I just, you know, it's funny because I can through, you know, and I pay for all my travels when I review airlines. Even though I can, I just still am like, it's against. But I mean, domestic flights all often pay, but I'm using the travel portal points like Amex points. You're still gaming it. Yeah. But yeah.

23:41Dana Telsey:It goes against your grain. To pay for it. Yeah. I get it. All right. Points guy, Brian Kelly. Thank you so much. A real pleasure to have you here right before Labor Day, the three day weekend. He is founder of the Points Guy and author of How to Win at Travel.

23:56Brian Kelly:I'm on the phone with Dana Telsey. We're checking the Saturday schedule at the U.S. Open. So we can see who's wearing Tiffany at the U.S. Open.

24:05Dana Telsey:Look at how they can play tennis and wear jewelry.

24:07Brian Kelly:And some of it's very big. It's not the Tiffany mortals would buy. It's like big time. But we're both waiting for the Saturday schedule to come out. And it hasn't come out yet. It's an outrage.

24:15Dana Telsey:We're still waiting. In due time, it will come. Let's get a check on where things stand. We had a big jobs report today, much stronger than anticipated. That sent stocks lower because good, bad news, or I should say good news is bad news in the stock market.

24:29Brian Kelly:Jeff Mason earlier said, why is that, Mike McKee?

24:32Dana Telsey:Well, the president doesn't understand why that is. And it's because people think that the Federal Reserve will perhaps increase interest rates later this month. You can see the S &P down about a third of one percent. Consumer discretionary, that covers retailers are among the worst.

24:46Brian Kelly:On that cross asset, the VIX 14.01 is a bull market statistic just across the equity base. You know, that's the way it is today, the$1.9910 as well. It'll be interesting to watch hydrocarbons, and particularly, as Stacey Vanek-Smith said, that price of diesel in America and worldwide into next week as well. This is a treat. It's a special edition, which means only Dana Tulsi can show up. CEO, Chief Research Officer, Tulsi Advisory. More than anyone I know with her childhood, she is viscerally attached to 57th Street at Fifth Avenue. I mean, I just can't say enough about the family tieback to Bergdorf Goodman and all that.

25:27Brian Kelly:How are you doing? And how's American retail doing? How's our aspiration?

25:31Dana Telsey:Doing well. American retail, frankly, pivoting along, but doing nicely. We saw some great results out of Victoria's Secret yesterday. At the same time, Lululemon is obviously falling a lot today as they have work to do. And then you saw terrific results out of Abercrombie and Fitch. You have companies like Oxford Industries who are still working to improve Lully Pulitzer. So for the most part, companies are managing inventory. They're using marketing and social marketing to drive new customer growth. And you have companies like Tapestry and Ralph Lauren that are continuing to see more new customer growth and AUR increases.

26:07Brian Kelly:I've got to give you a victory lap. The Australian Financial Review magazine wrote an article on the new Hermes store in London, which is the Dana Telsey story. Let's bring it up here right now. First of all, Hermes is struggling now. The stock down, it used to be it cost five Hermes scarves, and now the price of a share is three Hermes scarves. But this is Florian Crane writing up here. In 2011, our point was saying, if people go to a store, that will be for a reason. It's not to get the product. The product will be available on a click. He took that from you. He stole that concept. You're the one I know who said, stop panicking, stores won't die.

26:46Dana Telsey:Exactly. And they're not dying. If anything, stores are more relevant than ever before. You're seeing companies reinvest. Look at companies like Aritzia, the beautiful stores they have here in New York. Look at, frankly, look what Bloomingdale's has done. And it's like a reinvention of what Bloomingdale's used to look like. Social interaction happens in stores. And post-COVID, people want that more than ever. The reinvention, though, often pivots to focusing on a premium customer who wants a premium experience because that premium customer, their spending is more resilient, and that's where the growth is, frankly.

27:19Dana Telsey:Does that mean that the selection, the opportunities, the options for the higher income consumer just grows, and the options for the lower income consumer just shrivels? Well, a couple things. I mean, I think you're seeing options for even lower income consumers in physical retail expand. Look what just opened here in May. We had the first Primark in New York City open, and that is a value retailer. The fastest growing number of store openings is coming out of the off-price retailers. Ross Stores, TJX, Burlington. You look at Walmart remodeling nearly 600 stores a year. So I think the pivot point is every type of retailer is figuring out new ways to capture more traffic.

27:59Brian Kelly:I want to ask you, please Scarlett.

28:01Dana Telsey:No, I want to ask about Shein and fast fashion because there's a legitimate question here about whether fast fashion is dead. Shein went public, but it definitely did not time it right because it should have been a couple of years ago when the growth was at its peak. Well, also, I think you have competition. You look what Zara and Zara has done so well. H &M is trying to get its groove back. And there are privately held companies like Addicted, E-D-I-K-T-E-D. How do you keep track of this? That's opening stores. They have one here in the old Scrivener's Bookstore on Fifth Avenue near Saks on 49th Street that just opened.

28:32Dana Telsey:We're seeing a ton of traffic.

28:33Brian Kelly:Within personal finance, retirement, and particularly wealth management, What spans that is this crazy thing, aspiration. I want to own, as we mentioned earlier, the MS scarf. I'll never own one, but boy, they're beautiful. I think I'll look at it. Or people that say, I'm never going to own one at all, but I'm fascinated. Is our aspiration now the same as it was 10 years ago or 30 years ago?

28:59Dana Telsey:I think there will always be aspiration, but what you aspire is something different. Today, you just had the points guy on. What are people doing? Look at the prices at the U.S. Open. They are very high. So people are basically paying up for experiences because experiences create memories. And it could be memories with purchases. It could be memories with doing. And I think there's a lot of interest in doing these days. Which specialty retailers are doing a good job delivering on that experience, providing that experience to the customer? I think there are a couple that are doing some interesting things.

29:32Dana Telsey:Frankly, you look at Ralph Lauren and, frankly, Ralph's Coffee. You have lines there. They're creating that experience that's exciting. Frankly, you look at Zara, which has something new all the time, it creates a destination. Sephora, there are crowds to get in the Sephora stores. So it blends product and experience at the same time.

29:51Brian Kelly:A joke at the house is the daily Sephora. What they do is they bring the price down and go every day. And I see it on the Visa run. Okay, let's go to the open because you and I are fans. We're getting Scarlett into this as well. The dream is to get Alex Ayala to play Coco, and there you've got Nike playing New Balance, and who in God's name knows what jewelry they're wearing. Talk about the aspirational luxury of most of the women, to be honest, draped at the U.S. Open. The monies, it's millions, right?

30:22Dana Telsey:It is millions, but also, you're creating style trends. Look what Sabalenka's wearing. Everyone looks every day. what is Osaka wearing every day when she walks in the match? It's something new and different. So yes, it's become fashion and function at the same time. Is Arno winning at that? I think he plays a big game in it. He wins. Ralph Lauren wins at it. We have a lot of it. Frankly, Nike also wins at that too. So when Tom said you were out front and saying that stores were not dead, it's not just stores anymore. It's the venue for people to see the products available, but it's also at events like the U.S.

30:57Dana Telsey:Open. Exactly. It is at events. And frankly, you look at what stores are doing these days, whether they're creating styling sessions and bring your friend, whether they're introducing you to a new designer, there's a reason to go. And frankly, every time you have a reason to go, it's a click, click because you're buying one thing, but, oh, I didn't know I needed that. I'll buy that too.

31:16Brian Kelly:Your heart and soul is Bergdorf.

31:18Dana Telsey:Yes.

31:19Brian Kelly:How does Bergdorf survive? How does the world, London, Bergdorf, Prontant in Paris, how do they survive?

31:27Dana Telsey:Service. The service that they have is differentiated than others. They build relationships with their customers. They know their closets. And they can talk to them first, talk to them fast, and get them in the store.

31:38Brian Kelly:What you just heard there, folks, is classic Dana Telsey back to Bear Stearns. Scarlett, they know their closets.

31:45Dana Telsey:They know their closets. They know their customers, too. I'm curious as to these frictionless payment systems that have been introduced and rolled out. Apple Pay, Google Pay, all of that. How do you see that changing consumer spending habits, the way we spend? What are retailers doing to adapt to these new payment methods? And do we actually spend more because it's frictionless? Some of that. But the other thing it gives retailers, data. It gives them data on what the customer is buying, when they're buying, where they're buying, so they know more about their customer that they can curate the assortments.

32:16Dana Telsey:Frictionless payments is becoming standard right now. Look at how we all, whether you take a train, whether you, when you pay for something, it's just tap and go. And that's become, frankly, normal cost of normal cost of business.

32:30Brian Kelly:Joseph Feldman emails in. He says, ask a Joe Feldman question. Joe's wonderful. He works with Dana on the big box. Why is Walmart trading at 40 times earnings? I still don't get it.

32:41Dana Telsey:Well, why Walmart trades that way is because look at the growth opportunities. Walmart's become a modern technology company to look at their ability to capture all income levels. And frankly, you look at what they have, a global space in order to be able to.

32:56Brian Kelly:And the other thing in terms of Bloomberg money and personal finance, how many millionaires has Bentonville made?

33:02Dana Telsey:A lot of millionaires and Bentonville is a nice place to live. How's Walmart doing with capturing the premium customer as well as holding on to its core customer? Look at the biggest growth for Walmart is coming from higher income consumers. And that ability for them to see relevance there is exciting. All right. Dana Telsey, thank you so much. Thank you for having me. Really appreciate it. Dana Telsey, CEO and Chief Research Officer at Telsey Advisory Group. All right, Labor Day weekend means end of summer, which means back to school here in New York. I visited the campus of SUNY Purchase and spoke with a student on just how he's paying for college.

33:39Okay.

33:39Brian Kelly:Originally, it was like$30K a year. I got it down to like$1 ,500. It took a lot of time. financial aid and working at the same time. It was very tough.

33:58Brian Kelly:You're listening to Bloomberg Money. Stay with us with more to come after this. So there's a lot of noise about AI, but time's too tight for more promises. So let's talk about results. At IBM, we work with our employees to integrate technology right into the systems they need. Now, a global workforce of 300 ,000 can use AI to fill their HR questions, resolving 94 % of common questions. Not noise, proof of how we can help companies get smarter by putting AI where it actually pays off, deep in the work that moves the business. Let's create smarter business, IBM.

34:41Dana Telsey:Bloomberg Money is your new destination for personal finance. It's a cross-platform effort that extends beyond television because it's our new digital hub at Bloomberg.com slash money. And one of the stories featured this week is about parents opening brokerage accounts for their teens to learn the basics of investing. Fidelity, Schwab and other firms that have noticed and they're rolling out products to target this demo to lock in a new generation of customers and investors. Josiana Joshua reported on this and joins us now to discuss. You talked to a bunch of these parents and teens. What did they tell you?

35:12Dana Telsey:Yeah, so the teens are excited to get into it. They're very excited to get invested.

35:16Brian Kelly:They're very excited to do the research. They're excited to see the gains as well, of course. And the parents are kind of worried about what the economy is going to look like when they get older. So they're like nice, excited to have this as a backbone for this is separate from day trading with a laptop off a couch.

35:32Dana Telsey:Yes, it's much separate.

35:34Brian Kelly:Lisa Mateo's kids, they're just power. They're like the president, a thousand trades a day.

35:39Dana Telsey:It feels like they're a little bit ahead on this. But the motivation for a lot of parents wanting to start their kids on investing early is because they feel like they didn't do that themselves. Yeah. So it's really trying to get the time behind the time. Like the time is what they want to get on. Parents feel like they didn't have the time as well. They kind of started a little bit late. So they're trying to get that compounding interest to grow and make sure their kids have the best head start that they can. And are these kids investing in big tech names and ETS? What are they buying?

36:06Brian Kelly:Yeah, so according to Schwab, I spoke to Schwab Fisher for the story. They're mostly focusing in on single stocks. Some of them are also going into ETFs, but the big tech names are really attractive to them.

36:16Dana Telsey:It's Apple, Amazon, Google, all the ones that you hear on the headlines every day.

36:20Brian Kelly:Did you and your research do anything on the joy of learning to lose money? To me, that's the number one gift. The joy? The joy of losing money. I lost money on Westinghouse Options when I couldn't shave once a week. Interesting. And you learn how to lose money. Yeah, we talked to a financial therapist who was like, it's really important for them to learn the difference between losing money and making a bad choice. And it's part of their identity. Yeah, it's really. Lisa Bramowitz is my financial therapist.

36:48Dana Telsey:My cousin is my financial therapist. Josiana, thank you so much for bringing us the story. Josiana Joshua of Bloomberg News. Now, one of the biggest expenses for families is, of course, college. Last August, or I should say late August and early September, is all about move-in day. So I visited the campus of SUNY Purchase, known for its drama and performing arts program. And I spoke with the president, Michael Stiper, along with students and parents about the challenges they all face.

37:13Brian Kelly:So right now, some of the biggest issues facing higher education relates to the value proposition that students and their families are really considering when they're choosing a college and even choosing to go to college at all.

37:25Dana Telsey:Choosing to go to college at all. That comes up a lot. A lot of families, students in particular, are saying, is a four-year college degree worth it? How do you talk them through that?

37:35Brian Kelly:Sure. So for the vast majority of students, it is very worthwhile for them to complete a four-year degree. Now, a key word there is complete that four-year degree because it's essential when students start college that they finish college. Because students with a degree in hand, they perform better in the job market, they live longer, healthier lives, and they're engaged citizens. So we think for those reasons, it's a great choice to go to college. But again, the most important thing to do is to go to a college that fits you and a college that you will complete.

38:06Dana Telsey:And also a big consideration is a college that you can afford. How are you seeing rising costs impact your campus?

38:13Brian Kelly:Well, what I see is that more and more parents and families are considering public higher education. We see across the SUNY system increases in enrollment year over year over year. And I think that's indicative of people deciding that cost is a big consideration. And I see more students and their families talking about the cost and how SUNY Purchase, which has a very, very affordable price point, how that is a big part of their choice. And what we're able to do here is say that you don't have to choose a campus with an expensive price tag to get a fantastic experience.

38:51Dana Telsey:So the rising cost of a college education has been something that people have been grappling with for a decade now, if not more. How has that evolved during your time in leadership in higher education?

39:02Brian Kelly:Yeah, definitely. It continues to be a challenge at SUNY. We've kept tuition pretty flat for quite a few years, but more and more parents are looking more widely at different campus options. You know, one of the things that's fantastic about American higher education is there are so many different options, so many different choices, public, private, two-year schools, four-year schools throughout the nation. And, you know, it used to be just about the most selective, the best. And now I'm seeing more parents consider different factors that play into that along with, you know, academic excellence.

39:37Brian Kelly:Part of it that families need to consider more is how much debt their students will be leaving college with. And I think that is a factor that people need to consider because a lot of students today are planning not only on just a four-year degree, but on further degrees, whether it's medicine or law or graduate school or something of that sort. So thinking about how much debt you're leaving your four-year degree with, and here at SUNY Purchase, it's typically less than$25 ,000.

40:07Dana Telsey:That's the view from the college president. But I also wanted to hear directly from the students and parents at Move-In Day. Everyone I spoke with had a different plan on how to pay for college.

40:16Brian Kelly:Out-of-state tuition is definitely a lot. So I took out some student loans and was able to do that pretty easily. And I also put on my own fundraising show. I produced my own show to raise money to come to college. So, yeah. How much did you raise from that? About$3 ,500. Yeah.

40:38Dana Telsey:Is this something you're going to be doing regularly, you think?

40:40Brian Kelly:Yeah, I'm planning actually on doing it every year in my hometown since it was so successful. So it kind of helps me build my own scholarship fund a little bit. I have a love for art and a love for sculpture, but I just know it wasn't feasibly possible for me to do that as a career since I am low income. So that's why I chose political science and law and justice, because I could go down that law school track. I'm a teacher so very big on education so it's worth it to for me to you know spend your money on on that so you have to start planning early and and try not to put yourself in too much of a hole debt wise but you do the best you can about 18 ,000 or so just to live on campus so that I think the tuition state tuition is about seven so altogether it's like 32 ,000 majority of that is boarding.

41:30Brian Kelly:So that did make, it was just like a wow factor to see how much it cost to board and and the eating packages. $3 ,700 and some change, you know, per semester just to be able to feed your kid. I'm a first generation student. I get free housing being an RA. So that, because of that

41:50Dana Telsey:now I don't have to pay for anything in school at all with FAFSA and TAP. Did you have to take out any loans to attend school. For my first year, I did. But once I became an RA, I didn't have to take out any more loans. So now I've been paying them back.

42:04Brian Kelly:We've been saving for a while. We have an education savings program and the balance we're paying for.

42:12Dana Telsey:Has that affected your retirement plan? We're never going to retire. You want that? That's madness. That was my conversation with SUNY Purchase President Michael Seifer, along with some parents and students on move-in day, they're still dealing with the snicker shock of tuition.

42:27Brian Kelly:There was a breath of fresh air because we do all this Bloomberg elite stuff that we do every single day, personal finance, retirement, all in SUNY purchases 24 ,000, maybe 26 ,000. And there's so many people that can't make that nut. And it's like the old days when our parents, I mean, you're too young to remember this, but they worked their way through college.

42:49Dana Telsey:Yeah, that's not possible anymore when you have tuition and boarding going up to almost$100 ,000.

42:54Brian Kelly:You look at the fancy people, the idiocy of$90 ,000,$100 ,000 a year, and the real world is what you just did at purchase. I mean, that's the real world.

43:04Dana Telsey:I mean, what the universities will say is that the sticker price is different from what people actually pay, but there's a lot of people paying the sticker price.

43:11Brian Kelly:People are still paying. We used to call that in the old days, your full boat.

43:15Dana Telsey:Yes. Full boat. Well, a lot of international students were paying the full bill and they're not coming into the country anymore.

43:20Brian Kelly:And then there's the misty eyed look of dropping the offspring off to school. The photos are out on social media and it's the father who can barely contain himself. The daughter's like, when is mom leaving?

43:36Dana Telsey:That's Lisa Mateo right there dropping off her daughter at school this past weekend.

43:40Brian Kelly:It's just too emotional. Learn money, a special edition, which means Lisa Mateo's here. What's going to be interesting here, SUNY Purchase, with your wonderful package, you just did$30 ,000,$40 ,000,$50 ,000. Scranton,$75 ,000 all in, which is only$25 ,000 under, say, NYU or high above Cayuga's waters.

43:59Dana Telsey:It was, and Lisa Mattel lived to come back and tell us about it. You dropped off your daughter at school. I did. That must have been a hard goodbye. It was hard, but she's not too far, which makes it a little easier.

44:10Brian Kelly:but the you're talking about the college like the college tuition how much everything got it's ridiculous it's incredible um and what parents are trying to do to do this i mean we had an article out today about how more parents and kids they're they're joining the military in order to help pay for some of this i mean this is something that i'm living i have a son in the national guard my daughter's deciding to join rotc like these are the measures that we're going to and it's it's It's hard as a parent to take that into consideration because of the atmosphere that we're living in now. But it just goes to show you what families are doing in order to be able to pay for this.

44:47Brian Kelly:You got a multi-million dollar study on University of Alabama sororities. We did that with Lisa a couple weeks ago. Is young Miss Mateo going to join a sorority? Here's the good news. Scranton does not have sororities.

45:02Dana Telsey:So you don't have to pay a consultant.

45:03Brian Kelly:I don't have to pay that. But what you do have to pay the room is for the dorm room. Girls go out of their mind to decorate their dorm rooms. Can I just tell you, between the bedding and the decorations and all, because they need the new beauty products.

45:17Dana Telsey:They can't use the old ones, so they need all new stuff. I mean, it's incredible, all the stuff that you have to get. This is where Wayfair and Bed Bath & Beyond come into the picture. It's crazy. It is crazy. It is crazy. But it's been a journey, and it's a fun one, too. All right. Well, congratulations to you. And I know you have now some time to spend on other things. Are you going to be going to the U.S. Open? I wish I could, but I can't afford that either. Well, you know what?

45:41Brian Kelly:The tickets on top of that, but the price of the food and the drinks. And that is what is going crazy out there. I mean, you have people going to these, right? It's not just tennis fans. It's foodies. It's influencers. It's all these people who want to get their hands on, you know, the honeydews. It's 23 bucks. They sold hundreds of thousands of them last time. It's basically vodka, lemonade, and three melon balls kind of in a glass there. It looks good, but that's not the only thing, okay? So that one's been going. You have Taylor Swift holding them. That's Tom's friend, you know, just going out and taking pictures with them.

46:14Brian Kelly:All these celebrities, Bruce Springsteen. Then they have the merch to go with it. So you can't just get the merch. You've got to get the towel. You have to get the t-shirt. You have to get the Honeydew sweatshirt. You have to get the Honeydew smell baller. It's a whole thing. and the food. Tom, you're going to love this. $100 gluten-free chicken nuggets with caviar. Those I missed. Those you missed. It's from Coco Da.

46:37Dana Telsey:You can make it up this weekend.

46:39Brian Kelly:We're hoping Alexialla against Coco Graff.

46:42Dana Telsey:That would be great. Lisa Mateo, thank you so much, of course. And be sure to watch Bloomberg this weekend. Lisa's on every Saturday and Sunday morning, starting at 7 a.m. Eastern time. That is.

46:53Brian Kelly:It is a special edition for your lawn weekend as the nation celebrates Labor Day. Bloomberg Money.

47:03Brian Kelly:This is the Bloomberg Money podcast, bringing you a smart look at the forces shaping your financial life. I'm Tom Keene with Scarlet Fu. You can watch the show live on Bloomberg TV every Friday at noon Wall Street time. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen. And as always, on the Bloomberg Terminal and the Bloomberg Business app.

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