Episode Details

Hosts: Ralph Estep Jr, a licensed public accountant of over 30 years + Juliet, a first-time entrepreneur.

This week was heavy on scams and money habits. Quick recap:

• Three scams to watch: kill switches on subprime auto loans, home equity checks disguised as junk mail, and AI callers targeting new widows and bail-money victims, together costing people millions.
• Two settlements working in your favor: Amazon Prime refunds are jumping to $200, and Amway's own numbers confirm most people lose money on it.
• The real cost of not paying attention: subscriptions run $133 a month higher than people guess, and skipping your 401(k) match means leaving free money behind.
• Big takeaway: unassigned money gets spent by accident, assigned money builds a life on purpose.
• Good to know: kids born 2025 to 2028 get a free $1,000 government account, canceled flights owe you cash not a voucher, and casino ATMs are a trap even at 90% payback.
• Jason stopped by on mortgages, a client's TurboTax story turned into a $10,000 IRS bill, and we closed the week with a poll on who should really pay for Social Security.

Got a money question for me? Send it to us at becomingfinanciallyconfident.com/voicemail.

Or come watch us live every weekday, 11:30 am ET at becomingfinanciallyconfident.com/live.

Have a great weekend, everybody.

Links mentioned this week:

trumpaccounts.gov

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Companies mentioned this week:

• Amway
• Federal Trade Commission
• Amazon
• U.S. Department of Justice
• Google
• Cash App
• TurboTax
• Internal Revenue Service
• Moneywise
• U.S. Department of Transportation
• Cato Institute