Your New $2K / Month Side Hustle, Flying Air Taxis, & Higher Interest Rates?

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0:52Robert Croak:Sip for yourself. Shop Virtuo Up exclusively at Nespresso.com. Welcome back to the Rich Habits Radar, a new Friday episode of the Rich Habits Podcast, where every Friday morning we're coming at you with the biggest headlines impacting you and your money. My name is Austin Hankwitz. I'm joined by my co-host Robert Croak in the three things sitting at the top of our Rich Habits Radar this week include Tesla's cyber cabs rolling off the production line, White House flying taxi progress, and the Fed may be hiking interest rates in 2026. And be sure to stick around to the end where we talk about Wendy's potentially getting taken over by a billionaire activist investor, Nelson Peltz.

1:37Robert Croak:Man, think about that. I like me, what's it called, the Baconator? Dude, give me a Baconator.

1:42Austin Hankwitz:Yeah, I would say that introduction makes me feel like this is a dystopian future episode, but I assure all of you watching, it is not. We're going to dig into some really, really good things. But before we do that, we're thrilled to announce that support for this show comes from VCX, the public ticker for private tech. For generations, American companies have moved the world forward through their ingenuity and determination. And for generations, everyday Americans could be part of that journey through perhaps the greatest innovation of all, the U.S. stock market.

2:14Robert Croak:It didn't matter whether you were a factory worker in Detroit or a farmer in Omaha, anyone can own a piece of the great American companies. But now that has changed. Today, our most innovative companies are staying private rather than going public. The result is that everyday Americans are excluded from investing and getting left further behind, while a select few reap all the benefits until now.

2:40Austin Hankwitz:Introducing VCX, the public ticker for private tech. VCX by Fundrise gives everyone the opportunity to invest in the next generation of innovation, including the companies leading the AI revolution, space exploration, defense tech, and more.

2:56Robert Croak:So visit getvcx.com for more information. That's getvcx.com for more information. Carefully consider the investment materials before investing, including objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. This and other information can be found on the fund's prospectus at getvcx.com. All right, Robert, let's kick off this episode with our first story.

3:22Austin Hankwitz:Yes. On Monday, Tesla posted a photo of the very first CyberCab rolling off the production line at its Gigafactory in Texas. This is the autonomous two-seater robo-taxi Elon Musk unveiled back in October of 2024 at Tesla's WeRobot event. It has no steering wheel, no pedals, butterfly doors, and wireless charging. And at the time, most people thought it was years away, and technically it was, but here we are.

3:49Robert Croak:Elon confirmed on X earlier this week that Tesla will sell the CyberCab directly to consumers, not just as a fleet vehicle to enterprise clients, like maybe an Uber or something, for, here we go, Robert, get this, only$30 ,000. That would make it Tesla's most affordable vehicle, cheaper than both the Model 3 and Model Y. Now, volume production is expected to begin in April, and Elon said the goal is to have it available to buy for individuals before the end of 2027. He even said that Tesla's production lines should eventually produce one cyber cab every 10 seconds, which is insane to think about.

4:29Robert Croak:And Elon makes some crazy promises. So take all this with a grain of salt. But also something important that took place this week is the FCC granted Tesla a waiver to use ultra high band radio technology for the CyberCab's wireless charging system. This is a big deal because the CyberCab doesn't have a charging port. It charges by parking over a ground level pad. Without this FCC approval, that whole system couldn't be deployed outdoors. But that regulatory hurdle is now cleared. So, Robert, what does this mean for you and your money?

5:02Austin Hankwitz:This is Tesla making good on the autonomy pivot. For years, Musk has been saying the real value of Tesla isn't in selling cars. It's building a robo-taxi network where your car makes money while you sleep. The CyberCab is the first purpose-built vehicle for that vision, and the fact that it's actually in production is a huge deal. At$30 ,000 and with no driver needed, the economics get really interesting. Musk has said the operating cost could be around$0.20 per mile, which is cheaper than a bus ride. If that plays out, this disrupts Uber, Lyft, and potentially car ownership itself for people in major cities.

5:41Austin Hankwitz:Now here's where my head goes. Why can't I just buy three of these CyberCabs for under 100K? I then start my own fleet at my warehouse in Ohio, and I'm profiting and I'm up and running with these three vehicles, making between 15 to$25 ,000 per vehicle per year. So this is so exciting for me. I think of it as like an expensive side hustle, but one that could really make people a lot of money and a new way to combat all of this automation and robotics and AI. And with the introduction of this new cyber cab, a depreciating asset could turn into a cash flowing machine and a whole new asset class.

6:20Robert Croak:Yeah, it was really exciting. I use Turo. I'm sure we've all heard of Turo, right? T-U-R-O. And I've had good experiences. I've had bad experiences. But at the end of the day, there are people on the internet, I've watched several YouTube videos about it, where they buy two, three, four of these like Nissan Sentras, Hyundai Elantras, right? These like sort of$30 ,000 cars, and they do the whole thing going on on Turo and they make some profit and they do that. But what's interesting about this is it's all autonomous. With Turo, you've got to go drive the car to maybe a drop-off point at an airport.

6:55Robert Croak:You've got to go pick it up and do it, wash it, all this stuff. But man, how cool would it be if you can go buy a CyberCab for$30 ,000, you automate the whole thing, you figure out the washing, you figure out whatever's going on there. The charging obviously is automatic. Insurance will be through Tesla anyway. There'll be some nuances too. You've got to figure it out. But like imagine spending$30 ,000 and having a two-year payback period, right, where you profit$15 ,000 in the first year. So after two years, you now have a free cyber cab, essentially, that's going out and making you money every year.

7:26Robert Croak:Almost$1 ,000, over$1 ,000 a month on average. And there's a whole breakdown. We'll put it in the link in the show notes below of a really cool article that we read on X that sort of walks through the economics if you're interested in reading more about that. But, man, I think it's so cool. And I love the future. The future's fun. And speaking of the future and just autonomous stuff in general, the White House now is fast tracking flying taxis and it could actually change where you live. So the FAA is expected to announce selections any day now for their EIPP, the eVTOL integration pilot program, a White House initiative that will greenlight at least five pilot projects across the country to get electric air taxis flying in American cities before they even have full FAA certification.

8:15Austin Hankwitz:And this came out of a Trump executive order from June of 2025 called the Unleashing American Drone Dominance. And it's designed to fast track something that's been stuck in regulatory limbo for years. EVTOLs, otherwise known as electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. I know that's a mouthful. Think of them as electric helicopters, but quieter, cheaper to operate and designed for short urban trips.

8:41Robert Croak:Now you're like, Austin, Robert, why are you sharing this with us? because the two biggest names in the space are publicly traded, right? Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation. Joby Aviation has logged over 40 ,000 miles of test flights and is backed by Toyota, whereas Archer is partnered with United Airlines and has been named the official air taxi provider of the 2028 Olympics, which who cares, whatever that means, right? But what's cool is both companies have submitted proposals to fly in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Miami. And we're going to find out in the coming days, maybe weeks, who's actually chosen to now participate in this pilot program.

9:21Austin Hankwitz:And the way the EIPP works in that cities and states partner with these companies to submit proposals, and the FAA is selecting at least five to begin real-world operations within 90 days of being chosen. That means we could see revenue-generating air taxi flights in the U.S. by this summer, which is just crazy to me. These aren't concept videos anymore. Joby flew over 850 flights last year across the U.S., Dubai, and Japan. So Austin, this sounds amazing. It sounds dystopian. What does this mean for you and your money?

9:55Robert Croak:I don't know if this sounds dystopian. I feel like dystopian is more like a, oh my gosh, things are crazy. You know, like the matrix. This is exciting. I like this. This is fun. This is optimistic. I think it'd be cool, right? So the fun thing to think about this is the implications, right? The implications go way beyond just getting from point A to point B. Right now, these air taxis are targeting airport to downtown routes. So think like LAX to Santa Monica in like six or seven minutes versus sitting in traffic for an hour. Now, Elon Musk said that the cyber cab would cost 20 cents a mile on the ground, but these EVA tolls could eventually offer something similar in the air.

10:32Robert Croak:But that's where it gets really interesting from a wealth building perspective, because you can now perhaps live in a suburb 30 or 40 miles outside of a major city and get to the downtown area within seven to 10 minutes by air versus, you know, 45 minutes driving. The entire calculus of where you live now begins to change. Like, for example, you know, I live in Nashville, but I'm in a suburb called Nolensville. And that's like, you know, 25, 30 minutes from downtown. And it'd be sick if I can go somewhere, hop on one of these taxis and now I'm downtown in seven minutes after being in the air versus sitting in traffic for 30, 40 minutes.

11:06Robert Croak:Like now people can begin to think about, wait a second, if I want, I can have both, right? I can live 30, 40 miles outside of the actual major city in a more affordable area, right? But I can still have that convenience of getting downtown when I want to. I think it's sick. I love the future.

11:23Austin Hankwitz:I do too. And I really like the take of how it affects wealth building because you think about some of these interior cities, these downtowns like where I live, it's getting so expensive. But then if you want to live in the suburbs, you have to sit in traffic for 40, 45 minutes. This takes that away in the future where people can live more affordably on the outskirts of these major cities and still work in the cities, but be able to get there quickly. I love this and I definitely am excited about this sector. And Joby and Archer are both publicly traded and both are pre-revenue. So they're speculative.

11:57Austin Hankwitz:but this trend is undeniable. Between autonomous cars on the ground and electric air taxis in the sky, the way we move is about to change. And with it, the way we think about where to live, where to invest in real estate, and what commuting distance even means, keep an eye on this space in the coming years because it's for real, it's here, and we wanna make sure you're keeping an eye on it. So this takes us to our final headline. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve released the minutes from its January 27 and 28 meeting, And there was a line in there that should make every investor sit up in their seat.

12:32Austin Hankwitz:Several Fed officials discussed, and I quote, the possibility that upward adjustments to interest rates could be appropriate. If inflation continues to track above 2%, let me say that again. Some members of the Federal Reserve are openly talking about raising interest rates, not holding them steady and not cutting them.

12:51Robert Croak:Yeah, the Fed putting rate hikes back on the table is very interesting. So now to be clear, let's walk through this. The Fed held rates steady at the January meeting. We saw that. That was expected. And the vote was 10 to 2, with governors Myran and Waller actually dissenting because they want to cut rates by a quarter point, which is like, OK, cool. So you've got people on the committee who want to cut, people who now want to hold, right, the 10 people there who want to hold. But now some people are floating around the idea of hiking interest rates, something that we've not done in years. The Fed right now is deeply divided.

13:29Robert Croak:And the Minutes also noted that most participants thought the risk of inflation running persistently above the 2 % target was meaningful. Progress toward the target has been, in their words, slower and more uneven than generally expected. Now, January inflation came in at 2.4%, better than December, but it's still not that 2 % long-term goal that Jerome Powell has always talked about. And we've always had, oh yeah, 2 % inflation, 2 % inflation. It's at 2.4, but it's like, you know, is that meaningful enough to go hike interest rates and tank everything? Hopefully they don't do that. But now you got to think, okay, you've got the 2 % goal.

14:09Robert Croak:We're at 2.4 and tariffs are still working their way through the system. So the Fed isn't confident that that number, that 2.4 percent number, is going to come down fast enough.

14:19Austin Hankwitz:Meanwhile, Trump is still publicly pressuring the Fed to lower rates. He posted great jobs numbers after the January report and called for lower borrowing costs. He's also nominated Kevin Warsh to replace Jerome Powell as Fed chair when Powell's term ends in May. And Warsh has been in favor of lowering rates. So you've got the White House pushing for cuts and several Fed officials whispering about hikes. So, Austin, this is kind of back and forth and all over the place. What does this mean for you and your money?

14:50Robert Croak:I want everyone to understand me. This is a big deal. And I don't think enough people are paying attention. For the past two years, the entire market narrative, even three really, but for the good 24 and 25, what's been the narrative for the market? Rates are going down, right? We're in a rate-cutting cycle. Rates are coming down, which means more liquidity, lower debt. Like it's good. Rates come down, right? Don't fight the Fed is what we say all the time. These meeting minutes that we just got this week completely flipped the script. If the Fed even hints at hiking interest rates, that changes the math on everything.

15:25Robert Croak:Mortgage rates stay elevated or maybe even begin to go higher. Credit card APRs do not begin to come back down. Auto loans stay expensive. HELOCs, right? Like everything. And even the stock market now has to reprice itself against the new weighted average cost to capital. So the market rallied in late 2024 and 2025 largely because a lot of people, including myself, were betting on aggressive rate cuts and we got them. But if we're now in a world where the next move could be up instead of down, maybe that rally disappears. And the rally that was built on an expectation that never came true, right?

15:59Robert Croak:It's like, buckle up, volatility, here we come.

16:03Austin Hankwitz:And for your day-to-day finances, this means don't bank on lower interest rates anytime soon. If you're carrying high interest credit card debt, don't wait for rates to come down. Attack it now. If you're thinking about locking in a mortgage, the window of rates will be lower next quarter, might not play out as you think. And if you're investing, keep in mind that a divided Fed creates volatility in the stock market. Markets hate uncertainty, and right now the people in charge of interest rates can't even agree on which direction to go, let alone how much to go in the direction they choose. So stay diversified, stay patient, and don't overreact, but definitely pay attention.

16:42Austin Hankwitz:Things are real, and things could get really bumpy if this happens.

16:46Robert Croak:All right, Robert, now it's time for our quick little call-out on ETFcentral.com. If you're not using ETFcentral to do research on ETFs, you're missing out. It's a great website to go learn more about flows, holdings, performance, best, you know, all the fun stuff as it relates to ETFs, etfcentral.com. What we like to do is talk about the biggest movers and shakers in the ETF universe, right? So what thematic ETFs performed best this week? What performed worst? I talk about the best. Robert talks about the worst. And then we give you a quick little takeaway as to what we think. So in third place, the third best performing theme of the week was U.S.

17:27Robert Croak:Energy, up 2.1%. The second best performing theme was U.S. Utilities, up about 3.5%. And the number one best performing theme for ETFs this week are Niche Commodity, which if I'm not mistaken, Robert, I think Niche Commodity was last week as well. Year-to-date performance up 33 % for Niche Commodity ETFs. Very interesting.

17:51Austin Hankwitz:Definitely. And that doesn't surprise me. So I'm going to give you guys the bad news. These are the three worst performing. At number three is FinTech, down about four and a half percent. Number two, e-commerce. That surprises me a little bit. Down four and a half percent as well. And then the number one worst performer. And this one is shocking to me. But hey, it's okay. There's been a pullback on these record runs. Metal X Gold at 7.7 percent down this week. So that's my three worst performers in these themed ETFs.

18:25Robert Croak:Yeah, it's kind of funny because inside the Rich Habits Network, you know, we host these weekly live streams. And I don't remember the specific date. Maybe it was like, what was it? Maybe early January or something like that. Maybe late January. But anyway, we were hosting a live stream and we saw the craziest volume ever on Silver. It was going vertical. And I'm over here pounding the table during this live stream. Do not chase this. It's going to come down. I think it's blowing off the climax top, right? Like this is it. Please do not like go remortgage your house to buy silver bars right now.

18:58Robert Croak:This is not the time to do it. I think we're going to have a meaningful pullback and we have. And I'd be surprised if silver hits new all-time highs this year. Gold, maybe it's a different story. I think gold is a very different asset than silver. Thought of differently, right? As we think about, oh my gosh, what's happening in the Middle East? Do I want to have my money in silver or do I want to have my money in gold? And I think people kind of see gold more as that safe haven. And, you know, the big silver thesis was a lot of the utility behind it. So regardless, it seems like metals are coming back a little bit this week.

19:26Robert Croak:But the United performance still in the green. But again, that's excluding gold. I think, I don't know. What do you think, Robert? What's your takeaway here on the metals excluding gold performance?

19:35Austin Hankwitz:Yeah, I think overall it makes sense. If you think about the markets as a whole, you know, everyone was chasing Bitcoin for a few years. Then it gets to$120 ,000 and we haven't seen that number again. And it's down, down, down. Everyone was chasing AI after that. Now everyone's talking about an AI bubble. Then everyone moved their liquidity over to silver and gold and copper. And they chased that and ran that up to the top. And now that's pulled back. And that is why we here in the Rich Habits Podcast and Rich Habits Network always tell you to take profits along the way. Because nothing goes up and to the right forever.