9 Things That Are a Complete Waste Of Money (Be Careful!)

23:04there is a 68 % higher risk of type two diabetes and a 85 % higher risk of metabolic syndrome. So these are things that you just wanna think through because long-term you will pay for these if you are not careful with some of this stuff. And so I really, really think that cooking at home is financially superior in both your health and your wealth. And those two things are gonna make a big impact. Now, sure, how many times a week do I eat out? Probably two to three, sometimes even four times a week, depending on what is going on during that week. When I was younger in my 20s and I was trying to get by every single month, I would never read out.

23:38In fact, usually it'd be max twice every single month. And that was only for specific meetings or conveniencing. Outside of that, I tried to cook every single meal because I was trying to save every extra dollar. If you have extra cash on hand and you are willing at the end of every single month to pay for that convenience, that is A-OK. And there are a lot more healthy options out there. So choosing those options wisely can be really, really important. But I do believe that if you are living paycheck to paycheck, cooking at home is gonna make a dramatic difference for most of you. And just learning how to do this can be very important.

24:13Now, I put a system into place and I have a very specific system on how to even think about this. And so if you want us to do a whole episode on that, we can. But replacing some of this trash food and fast food with better home-cooked meals that are healthier is gonna help you so much in the long run. You're gonna be more mentally acute. You're gonna be able to perform so much better at work, which means you're gonna make more money. So it really does help you in every single area of your life when it comes to wealth building. Now, the next one's gonna be controversial, and we're gonna get to that next.

24:47Number three is, and we have a lot of listeners who have one coming up, but we're gonna talk about this anyway. Number three is expensive traditional weddings. Now, a traditional wedding can be one of the best days of your life. It could be a meaningful day in your life, and it can reflect true priorities and what you really wanna do in life. But what we're gonna be talking about here is the fact that a lot of newly married couples are financing their wedding. In fact, 45 % is the most recent data of newly married couples go into some sort of debt for their wedding. And sacrificing early financial stability within your marriage and taking on debt because of a wedding or a one-day party, and let's be real, it's a six-hour party when you really break it down, is not the move, my friends.

25:31It is not the move to make. And so this is something that we need to have a conversation about because the national average of what weddings cost today are$30 ,000 to$36 ,000 nationally. And it is up$3 ,000 to$5 ,000 compared to just a few years ago. Now, typical budgets fall between$40 ,000 to$50 ,000 plus range in some of these higher cost of living areas, places like New York and San Francisco and some of these other bigger cities. and large and luxury weddings can cost anywhere from$60 ,000 to$75 ,000 plus for a one-day party. I'm just going to keep saying that over and over and over again.

26:07Now, listen to me right now as I go through this. I understand that most of you, your dream is to have a wedding, and you want to have that wedding. There is nothing wrong with having a wedding. There's nothing wrong with having an expensive wedding, in my opinion. We've written an entire article way back in the day on this true belief. but you have to have the cash on hand and you have to have the money there. Weddings are not something to go into debt on. They are something that you pay cash for. And if you do not have the cash or you're not getting support from family members or friends, then this is something where you gotta work within your budget.

26:38I know you wanna have that dream wedding. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, but guess what? It's also something that can drag you down in your marriage and cause stress and anxiety around money if you don't have that cash on hand. So there's a number of different things that you can do, but I want to say that up front as we go through this typical breakdown. Now, how does this break down normally? Now, we can look at venue and rentals. That's usually$8 ,000 to$12 ,000. A lot of other weddings out there, if you get a fancy place, you're paying way more than that. The venue can cost you just$30 ,000 to$40 ,000 if you are not careful.

27:07Catering and food is$6 ,000 to$10 ,000 on average currently right now. I just saw somebody, I had a conversation with somebody the other day. They said the average catering that they are getting is$21 ,000. bar and alcohol. That's obviously going to be a very costly thing is two to 4 ,000 is the national average right now, but obviously that is getting skewed in a couple of different directions. Photography and video is three to$6 ,000 music and DJ is 1600 to$4 ,000 suits and dress for two to$4 ,000 planner and coordinator. If you hire one can be two to$4 ,000 invitations and stationery. That's a cost that you have to bake in is a thousand plus dollars.

27:45You have cake and dessert can usually be around$1 ,000 and then transportation is another$1 ,000. Now these averages, as I look at these, I think back to my wedding, they're lower than probably every single area in my wedding. And so this is something that I think most people need to understand that what's the key driver here. The key driver is your guest count. So number one, if you're trying to save money with a wedding, you can reduce your guest count in order to save in a lot of these different areas because reducing a guest list from 200 to 100 can save you tens of thousands of dollars just by making that one move.

28:19Now, the hard part is one side of the family wants all these people to come. The other side of the family wants all these people to come. And a lot of times this gets out of hand where usually the bride and groom look around their wedding and they're like, a lot of these people here, I don't even care about. And so this is something where establishing maybe some of those guidelines up front can help you with your wallet. And if they want to bring extra people, they can pay for them. That's the way that we're gonna think about this. Now, how many couples go into debt over a wedding? Right now, the average is 30 to 45 % of couples take on wedding-related debt.

28:49The most common sources are credit cards, personal loans, and borrowing from family. Those three categories are all three of the most dangerous ways to borrow money. And really, overall, I want you to avoid this at all costs. The average wedding-related debt falls between$10 ,000 to$20 ,000 on average. And this is something that you really, really need to make sure that you are avoiding. You got to pay cash for weddings. That is our rule. I don't care if you pay$50 ,000 for a wedding, but it's got to be in cash. You want your day to be that special or you want your day to have all that stuff going on.

29:22That is completely fine, but you got to pay in cash. You have to plan for it and you have to have the cash available. Because I want you to think about this total cost. Just over the course of a decade, a$35 ,000 wedding can be worth over six figures if you invest those dollars. Or if you put this and get it ready for a housing down payment, you are going to be much better off than most people out there with your housing down payment. Or you can have a fully funded emergency fund or be investing these dollars. Now, a lot of you out there are like, but this is a one-time thing. This is a one-time experience.

29:51I only get this once. I get it. But I'm just showing you the trade-offs that you have in place. And really overall, most people are taking on way too much debt when it comes to weddings. Now, when I think about back to my wedding and I think about, you know, one of the best days of my life in terms of marrying my wife, my forever partner. I love her more than anything in the world. And this is one of those things that I think for a lot of folks, you think back and I say to myself, was it worth the multiple tens of thousands of dollars that we spent on our wedding? And I'm going to get real with you guys here.

30:25And she doesn't know that I think this, but we're going to say it here anyways. I don't think it was worth the amount of money that we spent. And I think there was things that we could do to reduce some of those costs that would have made to day just as special and really overall something that we could have spent less on. Now, I'll get real. We spent probably around$30 ,000 on our wedding. Now, this was over a decade ago. And still, even at that point in time, that was on average in my specific area, kind of what you had to spend unless you wanted to reduce the guest list. We have a big family on each side.

30:56Her side is Greek. My side is Italian. And so combining those two families together is increasingly difficult with that guest list. If you've ever seen the movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, that was literally my wedding. Literally step-by-step. And we had it in a Greek church. We did the whole thing. And so step-by-step, that's literally what it was like. Windex and all. And so this is something where I just think that when I think back on this, just telling you someone from experience, I think there were things that we could shift or things that we could change that would make the day just as special, but we didn't have to spend so much.

31:32And so there's so many cool things about just thinking back on that wedding day and just having that experience. But there's a lot of things that would change. And if I was doing it today, I'm much more mature, much older now today. And if I was getting married today, there was a lot more different things that I would have done. All right, number four. Let's get into this is alcohol and shots. So a single shot at the bar is commonly$6 to$12. And multiple shots a night can cost you anywhere from$30 to$60. and alcohol and shots have one of the highest markups in the entire country with food and beverage.

32:07And so this is something where there is really almost minimal benefit to you having multiple drinks or shots out and about. Now, let me say this really clear. Alcohol is not something I completely abstain from. I have reduced intake of alcohol dramatically because I focus a lot more on my health as of late, but alcohol is not something I abstain from whatsoever. So this is something that I think for a lot of people out there, you need to understand some of the drawbacks to alcohol, which there are a lot, including health risks. Even, you know, just a few drinks is going to be something that is detrimental to your health.

32:41But number two is that alcohol is very costly and very expensive, where you probably spending, you know, if you're a regular, if you're a weekend drinker or something like that, and you drink regularly, you're probably spending a hundred plus dollars per month just on alcohol alone. And if you're drinking out, it's going to be a lot more than that. But three, there's not a lot of benefits to productivity, and it actually hurts your productivity the next day. For me specifically, I've noticed now that I'm older, when you hit your 30s, you realize, oh, shoot, this is going to hit me for the next couple of days just from having like one to two drinks.

33:11And so it's one of those areas where I just don't see a lot of benefits anymore for me. When I was younger, though, it's a social lubricant. It is something where it helps everybody in the group loosen up. There's a lot of great ways to utilize it that are positive. but overusing it can be a really huge detriment to most people. And so I think this is something where it's going to disrupt your sleep. It's going to increase dehydration. There's, you know, you just go down the list. Everybody knows the risks with alcohol. Everybody understands this. And I think if you are someone who is looking to this year, reduce your alcohol intake or just eliminate it whatsoever.

33:44Luckily, a lot of folks are now eliminating alcohol, which I think is a great trend overall. But when this happens and when you see this happen more and more, if you are someone who's like, yeah, I drink a little too much. I need to reduce the amount of drinking that I'm doing. I think it can help you dramatically long-term. It's going to help you in your career. It's going to help you in your relationships. It's going to help you just have more energy. And that's the overall key. And so what I would say is if you are looking to reduce this over the course of the next couple of months, just take a month off and see how you feel.

34:16After that one month, just commit to one month. And if you can take an entire month off and see how you feel. If you feel amazing, then maybe you just do these bouts or stretches of time where you're not drinking at all. Or maybe you just decide, well, I'm going to have one drink a week or I'm going to have two drinks every other week or I'm going to have five drinks a month. And you just set up these rules for yourself and these parameters to help you reduce some of the intake overall. But for most people, I would say the costs plus the health benefits just are not worth it, especially if you are drinking heavily on a weekly basis.

34:47You need to reduce that over time. I would highly recommend you reduce that over time. It's going to change your life forever if you do it. So that is something that I'm just going to throw out there. I'm not going to spend a ton of time on that because most of us know how detrimental alcohol is for our long-term health. Billion-dollar investors don't typically park their cash in high-yield savings accounts. Instead, they use one of the premier passive income strategies for institutional investors, which is private credit. Now, the same passive income strategy is available to investors of all sizes thanks to Fundrise Income Fund, which has more than$600 million invested in a 7.97 distribution rate.

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39:20Achieve your financial goals for good with Monarch, the all-in-one tool that makes money management simple. Use code PFP at monarch.com for half off your first year. That's 50 % off at monarch.com, code PFP. Number five is brand new luxury cars or leases. So we're gonna talk through this and think through the number of reasons why brand new luxury cars can be detrimental long-term. And this is a status symbol. A lot of people will do this because of the status and the status symbol that comes with this. But let's just talk about this. New vehicles depreciate 20 to 30 % in the first year of ownership.

39:58And so when you are looking at this, some luxury vehicles I have seen as of late depreciating even more than 30 % down 40%. Vehicles like a Mercedes or a BMW or some of these other high end vehicles that really are not worth much used. You can see this depreciation hit take really, really fast. And over five years, total depreciation is anywhere from 40 to 60 % on a lot of these vehicles. and many luxury vehicles fall toward the worst end of these ranges, which is why as someone who has owned a luxury vehicle in the past, which will not ever do again, this is something that is really, really important.

40:32So let's say, for example, you bought a$50 ,000 new luxury SUV. Now today's time and age, that would be a small luxury SUV. And it is worth$34 ,000 after year one and$20 ,000 to$30 ,000 after five years. Well, over the course of driving that for five years, the depreciation hint is$20 ,000 to$30 ,000 is what you spent and depreciation alone, that's before fuel, insurance, and maintenance. But luxury vehicles depreciate more for a number of different reasons. If you don't know this, there is rapid feature turnover. So a lot of luxury automakers are going to change the features, change the tech inside these vehicles.

41:11and so it feels outdated to the folks that can afford these vehicles. But number two is there is a high supply of off-lease vehicles. A lot of folks who have luxury vehicles, they go out and lease them. And all of a sudden, those leases get called, they return their leases, and boom, there is a huge supply of used vehicles out there. There is also a narrower used buyer market. So most people out there are not looking for a luxury vehicle. They're looking for your Toyotas, your Fords, your Hondas, your Chevys. That's what they're looking for. They're not looking for used luxury vehicles. Typically, a lot of the folks who buy luxury vehicles are the ones that want to be balling out and they want the brand new vehicle.

41:50And there's a lot of expensive post warranty ownership when it comes to luxury vehicles. Again, I've talked about this a number of times when my wife had a Mercedes, the oil change was like$1 ,200 to$2 ,400 per year, depending on if it was oil change A or B. And anybody who has a luxury vehicle knows they do like A, B, C, and they have these different years. and every year you're supposed to rotate between the three of them. And the third one is always the most expensive where you have to like replace the whole entire vehicle essentially. And it's the most ridiculous thing ever. It drives me up a wall and it's just a whole entire tactic that they go through.

42:21Now, number two is the maintenance and the ownership cost. Let's talk about it because that's what we just started talking about. So let's talk about the maintenance and ownership cost. The average maintenance for luxury brands is right around$13 ,000. Now, this is all the luxury brands put together. Some of the higher end luxury brands are gonna cost way more than that. Now, some brands average between$1 ,000 to$1 ,400 per year. Again, my experience was right around that higher end of that range. And lower maintenance luxury brands, maybe$750 to$1 ,000 per year. Even when you're looking at tires, if you're looking at replacing anything under the hood, it is significantly more expensive on a luxury vehicle than would be on just a regular old car.

43:02and ultra luxury and exotic brands cost 40 ,000 plus over the course of 10 years. The issue is just not repairs. It's the specialized parts. It's the labor is going to cost more at the dealership. It is the dealer only service where a lot of these vehicles need dealer only service, what they say, and out of warranty electronics and those types of things as well. Now, I mentioned and alluded to earlier that a lot of people decide, well, I'm not going to pay all that stuff. I'm just going to lease it instead. Now, we have done an entire episode on leasing. And I was very subtle in what I think about leasing.

43:39And I titled that episode, Why Leasing is Like Setting Your Money on Fire. And the reason why I did that was because I want you to know that leasing is not a better option. Where a lot of people would argue and say, well, leasing is a better option. It is not. A lease payment will help you in a number of, there's pros and cons to it. And if you're really, really wealthy, I don't really have a problem if you lease, if you want to just pay the extra because you don't want to deal with any of the maintenance, if you're a very wealthy person. But if you are someone who is deciding on whether to lease or buy, we deep dive into that episode if you want to check that out on the differences between the two.

44:15Now, dealerships are going to sell you on leases and say it's a lower monthly payment. It's always under warranty. There's tax benefits for business owners and there's flexibility. There's all these things that they'll throw out there. But for me specifically, in that episode, we dive way deeper into going into that. And so I would not lease if I were you. Now, number six is designer and luxury clothes. So designer clothes and luxury brands are something that I think some people will strive to have early on in life. And as they get older or as time goes on, once they wise up, they realize a lot of these luxury brands are not worth it.

44:47Now, if the quality is much higher than something, I'm a big fan of buying things for life. So if you've ever heard of the Biffle movement or B-I-F-L, You can search that on Reddit and it is the buy it for life movement. Now, this is a group of people who are looking for higher quality items and they will pay more for those higher quality items so they can own them for life. So an example of this would be, let's say you want to go out and buy a toaster. Well, you could go on the buy it for life group and say, which toaster can I buy where I never have to buy another toaster again? Typically, it's going to be something like a 1950s toaster if you can go out and find one of those.

45:20But there are things like that that you want to do where if you just want to buy things once and never have to worry about it again, buy it for life is awesome. But designer in a lot of different instances is the opposite of that. Designer is you are paying for a logo or a brand. You are paying up for status. You are paying up to impress other people. And so this is something where if you are doing that, I highly recommend you work on your money psychology because money psychology is going to drastically change the way we think about this. So global luxury and fashion clothing is a$260 billion market.

45:59In fact, the LVMH founder and CEO, Bernard Arnold, I think is his name. He's one of the wealthiest people in the world. In fact, he was the wealthiest person in the world for a very long time. I think it's back to Elon Musk now. I don't know who it is anymore, but he was wealthier than even like Warren Buffett was for a very long time. And so overall, this market by 2033 is projected to reach$430 billion. The annual growth rate is between 4 % to 6%. And the broader personal luxury goods between fashion, accessories, beauty, and jewelry is about$390 plus billion in 2024 and projected near$580 billion by 2030.

46:36So who actually buys luxury fashion? I think this is the most fascinating part about this, is who actually is buying these items and who is not buying these items. So if you go back, and I want you to think about this for a second. There's a picture out there of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates standing next to each other. We'll put it on the screen so you can see it. And in this picture, Warren and Bill, they're wearing Hawaiian shirts. Guess what? There's not a Gucci belt in sight when you look at those two fellas. Go look at Charlie Munger. Not a Gucci belt in sight when you look at Charlie Munger.

47:03Go look at Jeff Bezos. He's not wearing an Hermes belt. Go look at any of these big founders or big company owners. Guess what? They're not flaunting their wealth on their clothing. And this is something where I want you to think about this because 32 % of US luxury buyers are ages 25 to 34. 32%, a third of luxury buyers are younger folks, folks who most likely don't make as much as folks who are older over time. And 20 % of luxury purchases, oh my gosh, this is just one of those things that shows exactly why the marketing is so predatory. 20 % of luxury purchases come from households earning under$50 ,000 per year.

47:49Now you're seeing me pause as I say this because it hurts my heart. It breaks my heart to see this because if you're making less than$50 ,000 per year, you have no business buying luxury items unless there's like a purse that you really want and you wanna buy one purse or there's something that you really, really want and you've wanted it for a long time. If you're not hitting your investment goals and you are buying luxury items, please rethink your financial priorities. And millennials and Gen Z account for 45 % of global luxury spending. This means a large portion of luxury spending comes from people in their 20s and very early 30s, people who make less than$50 ,000 per year, and people who are a millennial generation or Gen Z's generation, which I think right now the millennials are what, 43 and below, 44 and below, somewhere around there.

48:33And so this is really, really hard for a lot of people to have to swallow. So luxury brands sell identity. They sell belonging. They sell the perceived ranking of individuals out there. And they sell emotional reinsurance for a lot of people. Most people are consuming this to signal they have class, they have taste, and this is exactly the way that you should be perceiving me. But let me tell you right now, because studies have shown this over and over and over again, it increases financial anxiety the more luxury goods you consume. It increases short-term spending dramatically, obviously. and it reduces saving and investing behavior.

49:09And so for most people out there who are not saving enough for retirement, but they are buying luxury goods, it's just no, do not do it. It is an overall dumb thing to do. Now, if you enjoy a nice designer sweater, or if you enjoy a great designer handbag, or if you want and you are really into watches and you wanna buy a fancy luxury watch, I honestly have zero problem with that as long as you plan for it. If you put a bucket into your high yield savings account and you are saving for that specific item, fantastic. That is absolutely amazing. My wife has a couple of designer handbags. They're not like the fancy$10 ,000 ones or anything like that.

49:48They are, you know, some of the lower level handbags, but when she wants one, I will start to save for it. I'll start to set up a category and start to save for it and I'll get it for her for Christmas or anniversary or whatever the other occasion is. But it is not something that I am going to go out and just frivolously just spend on random luxury goods. Warren Buffett said it best, price is what you pay and value is what you get. And I want you to remember that with every single purchase you ever make. I want you to remember that with every single investment you ever make, because price is what you pay and value is what you get.

50:21Consumerism is a crazy thing. It's a crazy drug that a lot of people will fall prey to. And a lot of people fall prey to this early in life, where they will be buying specific things just to look different to everyone else, just to have that status, just to feel like they are above people who do not have this specific item. But if you're not making much money and you are buying some of this stuff, you really need to rethink your priorities and make sure that you do not risk your long-term financial health for a designer wallet or whatever else it could be. So I really just want to say this as status symbols are gonna delay your wealth building ability, but if you save up for them in cash and you have that cash on hand every single month and you just automate, let's say you automate 100 bucks a month into that savings bucket, you're gonna hit that goal pretty quickly.

51:05It's not gonna take you that long. And so overall, you just gotta save for the stuff and pay for cash. Designer is always, always, always paid in cash. Now, if you go into debt for designer, boy, oh boy, do I have something to tell you. You are robbing your financial future. And if you do that, I really, really highly recommend that you rethink your priorities. It's the last thing I'll say on that because I think I could go really deep into this, but I won't. So a lot of this relates to money psychology. So thinking through your psychology, understanding why you feel this way or why you feel like you want to buy those specific things is very important.

51:41Number seven, we're going to go the other direction now is excessive or unused streaming subscriptions. So streaming has become less cost effective now than just even having like the old school traditional cable. They found a way to make more money off us and we're all just paying for it currently. because if you think through, okay, well now I have an internet subscription and I have all these streaming services. Maybe you have YouTube TV and you have every single different channel when it comes to streaming from Netflix to HBO to whatever's out there, Peacock, Amazon Prime. There's just a million of them out there now that are great.

52:12I love, I mean, Apple's shows are fantastic. I love some of Apple's shows now, but the subscriptions just keep rising. If you have kids, you got to have Disney plus. I mean, it's just a must. You have to have it. And the cost of each of these subscriptions is rising. It feels like the average one now for a family plan is 20 bucks each subscription. It drives me up a wall. And so if you have every single subscription, I would highly recommend you evaluate this on a quarterly basis. And so the way I do this is I look at all the subscriptions that we have every single quarter and I say, how much did we use this?

52:42Well, if there are subscriptions that we have that we did not use, but maybe once or twice a month over that timeframe, they're gone. If we didn't use them at all, they're 100 % gone. And if there are months that we just did not use them or maybe just use them very sparingly, they are also gone. I try to ruthlessly cut this stuff. Why? Because if you have three subscriptions that cost$10 a month over the course of an entire year, that is going to be$360 that you just threw away into the garbage. That's a big, big difference. And so for a lot of people out there, understanding that if you spend this much, you really want to make sure that you are looking at this in a way that makes a ton of sense.

53:18So on average, the combined cost of streaming and internet that people pay is about$145. Now, I look at that number and I say, well, I spend a lot more than that. And I know a lot of you probably spend more than that too. And so thinking through this, we want to make sure that we are just monitoring this and reducing these costs as much as possible. When you take on a subscription, make sure you're actually going to use it and make sure if you're not using it, you cut it out. Now, the good thing about this is Monarch Money helps me track this kind of stuff too. So I can go look at, hey, what are my recurring subscriptions?

53:47They have a little dashboard there where you can see your recurring subscriptions. And I will dive in there all the time and just take a look at it to see if there's anything out of whack or anything I'm just not using anymore. And there always is. And in my business, same thing. There's always subscriptions that we have that we're just not really using anymore and they're a waste. And so that's a great way to just get rid of some of the costs that you were paying up front. We're going to get into the last two right after this. number eight is one that is a common conversation that a lot of people are having right now and that is sports betting so in 2024 americans spent roughly 148 to 150 billion dollars on legal sports bets and the sports books kept about 13.7 to 14.2 billion after paying out winners that implies a 9 to 9.5 % national hold rate overall.

54:38Now, sports betting is becoming something that is harmless if you have rules in place and you have set parameters where you're not going over a specific amount and you can afford it and you're hitting your investment goals, but it is not healthy for most people. And I see a lot of people out there, friends that I have, who are spending money on sports betting, who are foregoing investing. And if you are someone who is doing that. If you think sports betting is an investment, I'm here to tell you right now, you are making the wrong move. Sports betting is not an investment. An investment is something that will help produce and create an income for your family for your entire life.

55:17Assets go up in value and liabilities go down in value. And for those of you out there who are utilizing sports betting as some sort of misconstrued way to invest for your future, you are making a huge, massive mistake. Now, here's why almost every single person loses when it comes to sports betting. Estimates consistently show that 90 to 95 % of bettors lose money long term. 95 % of people lose money long term. Why do you think you're going to be any different? Are you in the sports book and looking at every single edge and looking at the weather and looking at every different thing that's happening right now?

55:50Or are you just throwing out what you think for the day? Because if that's the case, most of these losses are driven by the embedded odds. If you ever heard the term Vegas always wins, Vegas is a lot smarter than even a lot of people on Wall Street, to be honest. And so overall, you can see that the sports books are using real time data and advanced analytics. They're adjusting limits to ban winners and they are letting losers continue betting without friction. So what's happening is this becomes an addiction. So sports bettors are experiencing gambling problems at two times the rate of other gamblers.

56:21And about 30 percent of online sports bettors show some level of problem gambling. 30 % show some level of problem gambling. Roughly 16 % meet disordered gambling thresholds and 13 % at an elevated risk. Now, here's the thing I want you to know is a lot of people will bet with credit cards or personal loans. I have seen this happen before. People will chase their losses, meaning that if you lose money, all of a sudden they're trying to go get that money back, which means they get deeper and deeper into the hole. Or they will raid their savings because they truly believe in some bet, that bet loses, it is all gone in one fell swoop.

56:54Or they missed bills, or they'll stall investing just because they want to make sure that they get their bets in. This is something that is a big, big problem. And the bigger problem that's coming into play is something called the prediction market. Now, if you haven't heard of prediction markets before, guess what? This is just another way to speculate and gamble on different things. So there's companies like Kalashi. There are companies like Robinhood that are out there right now that all of a sudden, the place that's supposed to help you with your finances and the place that's supposed help you investing is now allowing you to gamble on sports.

57:26Do you see the problem with that? And so right now, Robinhood, you can go and do what they call a prediction on sports, which is just betting on different sports. And so overall, this is something that I think it blurs the line between investing and speculation and gambling. And it's a huge, huge concern overall because so many companies are jumping into this market. Why are they jumping of this market because it is so crazy profitable. And so you really have to think through, well, how am I going to consider this? I am not someone who does not gamble. I am not someone who does not enjoy throwing out 10 bucks on a game when it comes to a Sunday football game.

58:08I will do it. Why? Because sometimes it's just fun, but I hit all my investment goals. I make sure I am doing all the things that I need to do first. I got the emergency fund in place. I've got all of those things in place. And I cover all the essentials before I do something like that. And I have very strict rules on how much I will ever spend on a bet. And let me tell you right now, it is not more than$20. And so this is where a lot of people just get themselves into trouble. They don't have rules. They don't have parameters. And they're not structured in a way that makes a ton of sense. And so if you follow those rules, if you keep your bets structured in a way that you can afford, and you say, hey, I'm not going to spend more than 25 bucks in a given month on this, or I'm not going to spend more than whatever your rules or parameters are, and you stay within those rules and you stay disciplined, I don't see a problem with it.

58:54But if it becomes a problem and you realize you get emotional, your emotions flutter up, and they bubble up and you want to gamble more and more and more every single time you do this, and wins are just ultimate highs and losses are ultimate lows, that's a problem. And so you want to make sure that you are looking and checking your emotions when you do this. We will probably have an entire episode diving deep into this, talking about the parameters, talking about some of the problems with this and how to think through this, because I think it's an increasing problem that could get worse and worse as time goes on.

59:23Number nine is diamonds and high-priced jewelry. So we live in an age where in 2026, there's something out there called lab-grown diamonds. And lab-grown diamonds are a significantly cheaper alternative to the traditional diamond where people have to go into a mine, they have to mine these diamonds, they have to pull them out. A lot of times people will use the term blood diamonds, meaning there's a lot of bad things going on to actually get a hold of these diamonds. And now, in 2026, they can make a diamond in a lab that is the exact 100 % same thing as a mined diamond. And people are overspending on diamonds still.

1:00:05they're overspending on the old school traditional diamond because that's what was ingrained into their head, thinking that this is the way to go. And so if you overspend on things like this, like jewelry or whatever else, it is really, really important to note that there's a cheaper alternative now, especially when it comes to engagement rings or it comes to buying your significant other tennis bracelet or if you're a rapper and you want to bling out your watch, whatever you want to do, just note that it is significantly cheaper to go with a lag grown than anything else. Now, the resale value, you can argue that.

1:00:37A lot of mine diamonds will hold their resale value, while lab grown may not. And there's all these different things that you can say about that. But overall, this is an area where a lot of people will waste money, where some people will say, well, jewelry is an investment. This is something that holds value. And sure, long-term, things like gold will hold its value over time. It's an inflation hedge, and it is something that we've seen a ton of run up over the course of the last 18 months. And gold can be something that is an inflation head. Silver, the same exact thing. But buying jewelry as an investment is not something I'd be interested in doing.

1:01:05You really have to have deep expertise. You have to understand the markets. You have to understand what you're doing. Now, if that's the case and you know everything about jewelry, then you have an advantage. You have that competitive advantage that makes sense. But for a lot of people, the opportunity cost is not worth it. And so I've seen a lot more people saying, well, should I be investing in jewelry that has gold in it or has silver in it so that I can wear it, but also enjoy it as an investment? That's not really an investment. It's just something you enjoy. And so if it's for a big event or it's for something special like an anniversary or it's for something that you really want to do, like a big milestone, you want to go and buy a Rolex, I have no problem with that.

1:01:37But saving up in cash is the way to do it every single time. So don't confuse emotional value with financial value. Those two things do not coincide. But I highly recommend every single person out there, if you're going to buy jewelry, go for it. More power to you. But just make sure you're paying cash for those types of things because that's the most important thing overall. Listen, thank you so much for listening to this episode of the personal finance podcast. Again, if you want to get direct help from me on a weekly basis, Master Money Academy is the place to be. We do live coaching calls every single week.

1:02:07And my goal is to reduce your stress and anxiety around money. And overall, you are going to be a different person financially once you join Master Money Academy. It is a complete transformation system. And that's our entire goal for each and every single one of you is to become completely transformed with your finances. So if you want to transform your finances, if you are saying to yourself. Now, this is the year, this is the time where I am going to change my financial life. Master Money Academy is the place for you. Would love to have you in there and meet you inside. Thank you so much for listening to this episode, and we will see you on the next episode.

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