NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast - How to Balance Career Opportunity and Cost of Living (Plus: ChatGPT Ads Could Change How You Spend)

Starting point is 00:00:00 Navigating early career choices is never easy. Figuring out questions like who you want to work for, where, and what might seem simple, but it can be a complex equation. Today, we'll walk through a listener's job dilemma, including how to deal with the fact that an algorithm will determine some of the answers to those questions. Welcome to NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast, where you send us your money questions and we answer them with the help of our genius nerds. I'm Sean Piles. And I'm Elizabeth Ayola. Later, we'll be answering a listener's question about how to think about early career choices when you're on your way to med school. But first, our weekly money news roundup where we break down the latest in the world of finance to help you be smarter with your money.

Starting point is 00:00:44 Our news colleague, Anahil Hoski, is back. And she's going to be talking about the age of AI shopping and how it could change how you spend and what you buy. The same tool that gives you helpful advice could also soon be serving you ads and be acting as the checkout all at once. So listen to this. A new study released on January 7th from IBM Institute for Business Value and the National Retail Federation found that almost half of consumers turned to AI for shopping and advice, including product research, interpreting reviews, and finding deals. I am in the 50% that is not doing that currently. But it seems clear that the age of AI shopping is on the way. And there is some clear signals that changes are coming really soon.

Starting point is 00:01:27 There's been a lot of recent developments. So first step, Google's starting to fold shopping and advertising right into its generative AI chat platforms. Google's AI mode is now being used to show you personalized deals and shopping offers that are based on what you're looking for. And that's a pilot program called direct offers. And it lets retailers present you discounts and special promotions directly into a chat when a user is considering making some kind of a purchase. And Google also unveiled a new standard called the Universal Commerce Protocol, very catchy. And it allows brands and retailers like Shopify, Walmart, Target, Etsy to sell directly inside AI chats without making you click through to another site. So you could ask Google's AI something like, what's a good carry-on suitcase?

Starting point is 00:02:12 Yes, that is personal because my son stabbed up my carry-on suitcase while opening it from the box. So I need a new carry-on suitcase. And it'll both give you options and let you buy one directly in the chat. Yeah, exactly. Although you might want to be a little bit more specific. So what's a highly reviewed, lightweight, softbody, top-open carry-out suitcase? So specificity is something that always helps and prompts, especially with shopping. And one more thing about Google.

Starting point is 00:02:37 For now, Google's ad team is focusing on shopping ads and offers in AI mode rather than in its chat pot Gemini. But that's pretty likely to change. So meanwhile, on January 16th, OpenAI announced that it would begin testing ads in the free tier of CHAPG. In a post-on-X, the company said the chat. responses won't be influenced by ads. Ads will be separate and labeled and advertisers can't see your chats. Hmm. You know, for some reason, I'm skeptical of all of those claims.

Starting point is 00:03:05 Yeah, yeah, Sam. But give them the benefit of the doubt for right the second. OpenAI also has its own version of in-chat shopping. That's called Instant Checkout. And a partnership was announced with Shopify and Etsy in the fall. And basically, it allows you as users to see product listings right in the chat. And if the product supports it, complete a single item purchase within the conversation. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Danger.

Starting point is 00:03:29 Yes, especially for impulse shoppers and people who don't think before they spend. This is, wow. It's exactly what it's designed to do is to get them to spend without thinking. Yeah, and it's addictive. So in the future, it's going to be offering multi-item carts. You're going to be able to buy a bunch of stuff at once. Oh, my God. And it's going to be broadening the scope of which retailers that's going to be partnering with. So there'll be more choices, but we know that certain things are going to be served to you more than others. Basically, the convenience. that comes with making purchases within an AI chat could completely transform shopping as we know it. And completely blow up your budget. Yeah, I was just thinking, do you guys want to put money on how long it's going to be

Starting point is 00:04:06 until buy now, pay later is incorporated into the shopping tools? By the end of the year. Yeah, exactly. This really raises some questions for consumers. Like, are you even seeing the best option or are you comparison shopping anymore? Because I think that's still important and not just, you know,

Starting point is 00:04:22 taking the recommendation from an AI tool blindly. AI shopping is going to be collapsing that line that exists right now between advice and advertising and then actually making a purchase. I was thinking about influencers. They get paid to advertise products to you and brands are counting on your parissocial relationship with that influencer that is going to steer you toward making a purchase. But if you swap the influencer for an AI chatbot and we already know how quickly people develop trust and in some cases a sense of a relationship with AI tools, if an AI is telling you what to buy, buy, where to buy it, and then letting you actually make that purchase without ever clicking a link or opening a new tab, that's going to be a pretty big shift in how people are shopping. In case you guys couldn't tell, I have a lot of apprehension about this, but I want to be balanced.

Starting point is 00:05:09 So let's talk about some of the benefits of this method of shopping. You're probably going to see fewer sketchy websites feature that are just kind of like a big mix of letters that's supposed to be a brand. It's personalized. It's convenient. It's fast. It's easy. and you may be able to find really specific items more easily than traditional search methods.

Starting point is 00:05:29 So recently I saw a podcaster that I follow also on Instagram wearing a pair of boots that I became kind of obsessed with. So I'm sorry to say. So I had chat GPT look for it. And I had to use a little bit of like prompt adjusting along the way, but it was able to actually find them. But yeah, but they were like way out of my price range, like over $1,000. So then I asked it to find some similar, cheaper knockoff options that also like prioritize comfort. And wading through the options separately outside of the chat, I found one for like $120 that worked for me. Oh, that's a steal.

Starting point is 00:06:07 Okay. So you got your dupe. Totally. I mean, but like a solid dupe. They're very comfortable. I will say it was very helpful to use as a starting point to find what I was looking for and then to compare items. But I will say that even if it did offer me the option to check out within the chat, I don't think that I would. Like, I'm someone who, when I'm comparison shopping, I want to read reviews on the site itself, on other sites and see if there's a discount available rather than just saying like click.

Starting point is 00:06:33 But that's only for things that I'm really considering. I also wouldn't want to put my credit card information into one of these systems anyway. I just had my credit card used without my permission. I had to get a whole new card. It was a whole rigamarole. And I just don't want to give that. information to a company that I don't trust. Totally. And Anna, I have, I think I have the most important question that everybody wants to know, are we going to get to see the boots? Now we have to see the

Starting point is 00:06:58 booth. I don't really show my feet on camera weirdly enough, but I will privately send you a photo. Yeah. Thank you. Okay. So say I'm shopping inside an AI chat, Anna, what kind of mindset should I have besides being incredibly skeptical, which I already am? Yeah, I mean, that skepticism helps. So treating AI like a salesperson or an influencer is a good burst approach. It's not really a neutral advisor if advertisers are paying for their products to be featured to you. So you might need to tailor your queries to be more specific. And then, of course, make other comparisons against other trusted retail websites. I will say that AI is going to try and ease the way and reduce all of your doubts as it often does.

Starting point is 00:07:39 And it'll say, this is exactly what you're looking for. This option checks all of your boxes, et cetera. Don't get got guys. Okay. All right. So how can ads show up without feeling like ads? They're also going to feel like advice. So based on your past searches and popular with users like you, basically just algorithmic based advertising. I would say watch for language that signals that it is an ad or that there's a partnership. So featured partner from a trusted partner, sponsored results, et cetera. These products are paid to be there. And they're not necessarily the best option for you. And I think that's

Starting point is 00:08:12 something really crucial to remember. And AI could be prioritizing products that can be actually purchased inside the platform. So something from one of those retailers that they're partnering with. And it's not necessarily the best reviewed or the cheapest that you can find elsewhere. A lot of that wording that you just mentioned feels like subtle manipulation to make you feel more comfortable with the options that are being presented. And I think it would still be a good idea for folks to do their own research outside of one of these tools to make sure you are actually getting the right product for what you want. Okay, so what's the safest way to use AI for shopping right now?

Starting point is 00:08:46 I would say isn't something similar to what I did, but if you want to be more careful, basically use AI mainly for research and product comparison, especially if you're someone, like you mentioned, Elizabeth, prone to impulse buying. I know I am at 2 a.m. Don't check out once that feature becomes more widely available. Take that extra step, click a link, go through the checkout process directly on a retailer's site. And that gives you just that extra minute to say, do I don't actually really need this again at 2 o'clock in the morning?

Starting point is 00:09:14 You're also going to want to continue to price check bigger purchases against multiple retailers that might carry that product. So you can make sure that you're getting the best deal. And I want to give a tip for all those impulse buyers, just a little bit left. But hey, a good tip never hurt nobody. I have a running note. I use an iPhone and I use it as a wish list. So things that I really want to buy, I throw on that wish list.

Starting point is 00:09:34 And sometimes the next day I'm like, hey, I don't really need that. So maybe this can still apply even when you're AI shopping. Just taking a little bit more time between like I want that and then actually clicking purchase. Now, what should shoppers still do the old-fashioned way? Check returns, warranties, make sure that those policies are being stated really clearly and excessively. A lot of times we buy things online, then we don't want them. So you want to make sure that you can actually return it. But at a minimum, save receipts, take a screenshot, whatever it is that you need to do.

Starting point is 00:10:04 Here's something else I want to add. The shift toward AI shopping is likely to move beyond the scope of what we're we're using it for for research already recommendations or when it's more widely available to click on a product to buy. It could also move toward delegating some more of the buying process to AI agents. People don't seem to hate that. Now, like Sean, call me a levy. I don't want to hand my credit card over to an algorithm, but listen to this. A survey by Content Square, an AI analytics platform, found that about 30% of U.S. consumers said they'd be willing to let an AI agent complete a purchase on their behalf.

Starting point is 00:10:39 So we're not even talking about just a conversation that leads to a purchase, but shifting the entire shopping flow over to AI. So is it like a personal shopper then? Yeah, I think that that's basically what they're thinking. At least 70% of us still have common sense. For now, Sean, until we're all convinced this is the way. Yeah, it's only a matter of time. But wait, guys, I have a question for us.

Starting point is 00:11:02 Are we haters? Are we like the people when the internet came and they hated the internet and it was bad and was going to take over the whole world. Are we being AI haters right now? I don't know. What do we think? I use AI to like an embarrassing degree, not with my writing. I just want to say that right out loud, but just with, you know, I was at the gym. What part did my body did I hurt? I use it instead of Google a lot of the time. I really do. I think it can be useful, but I'm not going to trust it with my finances quite yet. I don't want to upload any of my personal information on there. I'll be honest. A bit of me is a little scared of and maybe I can relate with how people felt when the internet came of how.

Starting point is 00:11:36 much of our lives AI is taking up. On one hand, I'm happy with how much it can take off my plate, right? Repetitive tasks that I don't want to do AI can do, but I'm also scared of like the things that it will replace and maybe it's just going to take over the whole planet. Okay, that's extreme, but you know, that's a dumer perspective, but there are people who believe that. So, I mean, anything's possible, right. I do want to have one last caveat for this entire conversation. The shift toward direct in-chat AI shopping, even though we're talking about it right now, It's like only kind of sort of nearly here, but the rollout to the wider general population is still moving pretty slowly. Well, thank you, Anna.

Starting point is 00:12:14 This was an insightful conversation, and I will not be using AI as my personal shopper. All right. Up next, we answer listeners' question about how to think through the financial implications of early career choices. But before we get into that, we want to remind you all to send us your money questions. If you want to learn how to budget better so you're not impulse shopping or you have, questions about home buying, leave us a voicemail or you can text us on the nerd hotline at 901 730-63-73. That's 901-730 N-E-R-D. You can also email us at podcast at nirbalot.com, and we're working on a special episode

Starting point is 00:12:51 all about tax season 2026, so send us your tax questions. This week's money question is coming up next. Stay with us. This episode is sponsored by Rula. A new year always makes you think about yourself in a different way. You want to do better. Feel better. better. You start asking real questions. How can I take better care of myself this year? What can I do that would actually improve the way I move through my day? For many of us, that answer includes taking care of our mental health. You want to feel better, show up better, and also take care of yourself in a way that actually lasts. Taking care of yourself shouldn't feel that complicated. And this is where discovering Rula becomes part of your self-care. This year, take care of yourself with Rula.

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Starting point is 00:14:14 This year, make one change that you can actually stick with. Visit rula.com slash smart money to get started. That's rula.com slash smart money, mental health care that's actually built to last. We're back and answering your money questions to help you make smarter financial decisions. This episode's question comes from a listener's email. Hi, Elizabeth and Sean. I love your podcast and was hoping that you can help me with a job dilemma I'm having. I'm in my last year of medical school, which means over the next few months, I have to rank all the hospitals I've been interviewing at for residency positions. In March, an algorithm will sort through everyone's ranks and tell me which hospital I'll be training at for the next five years. I'll be 26 when I start my training, and 32 when I graduate. The starting

Starting point is 00:15:00 salary for residency is about $60,000 to $80,000 and goes up every year to about $100,000 to $120,000 in the last year of training. Once I graduate, I'll make around $500 to $750,000. Wow, that's a lot of money, listener. Okay, my options right now can be sorted into three buckets. One, New York City, great slash prestigious hospitals that will make it easy to find jobs in the future. Everything is very, very expensive, and I probably will not be able to save a lot or put much into retirement. Two, other cities. Pittsburgh, Boston, Philly, Baltimore. Expensive, but less expensive. than New York City, still prestigious, and will be easy to find jobs in the future. Option 3. Long Island, Connecticut, Rhode Island.

Starting point is 00:15:46 Much less expensive than a major city, and I can expect to save a ton, but hospitals aren't as prestigious. I'd still be able to find a job, but I wouldn't leave with the same set of skills as if I were to graduate from a New York City program. I'm essentially struggling with high cost of living now, but better opportunities in the future, versus saving money early and good but not great opportunities in the future. Thank you. And this episode, Sean and I are taking on this listener's question ourselves. Let's dive in, Sean. All right, Elizabeth, I don't know about you, but when I saw this listener's question come in, I really related to it because I was in a similar position in my early 20s trying to figure out how to balance living in a city that was expensive,

Starting point is 00:16:28 but I thought would have good opportunities with moving to a place that was less expensive, but I wasn't really sure how it would pan out career-wise for me. So how did you think about this in your early days of getting a job and making your living and finding a career, all of those things? I just want to clarify that I am ecstatic for the listener, but I do not relate to making half a million to 750 at 32. I don't anticipate to looking forward to that. So I'm very happy for the listener. But what I do relate with is having to choose between living and a city with a high cost of living and balancing that with the opportunities. So after graduation, I moved to Nigeria and one of the LERS was the cheaper cost of living and potentially better opportunities

Starting point is 00:17:13 because of less competition in the job market in Nigeria at the time. So I thought that I was going to get both a city with more easily accessible opportunities and lower cost of living relative to London, which is where I was coming from, which we know is an expensive city. Now, after spending, wow, most of my 20s in Nigeria. In retrospect, it turned out that I was living in a relatively high-cost city, and the opportunities that I thought I was going to get, I didn't get. Because, one, I was living in a city with a lot of nepotism, and I didn't have access to those opportunities. And another thing is the Naira kept devaluing. So the value of the money kept going lower and lower. But with that said, I wouldn't change my decision because living in a big city equipped me with the transfer

Starting point is 00:18:00 skills that I needed to get to where I am today. So that's something I took away from it. Yeah, the nepotism issue is really big, and that's a big part of why I didn't move to New York City after graduating college. I was starting off in journalism, and I had a lot of friends who were moving to New York City, and it seemed like a good place to go for that, you know, kind of at face value, but I thought I would have a really hard time breaking in in such a large city. So I ended up moving out to the Bay Area. My twin sister was already there, And it seemed like a small enough area where I could find a ladder and climate, although it was still quite expensive. It's part of why I ended up moving to Portland, Oregon eventually.

Starting point is 00:18:39 But I did find that ladder. The ladder was called Nord Wallet, and I've been here for a number of years, and it's helped me have a good career. So I think being in San Francisco was really key in my early 20s to get my career started. And then eventually, once I found my stride, I figured, hey, let me move somewhere where I can actually build the rest of the life that I want to have. And I think that's something our listeners should think about too is that this is not a forever decision for them. Yes, they'll be there for six years, but they could move to any other place afterward. I have a question for you, Sean. But when you say living in a big city help you to get your career started, are you referring to the job opportunities that you were able to access or the network that you was able to access?

Starting point is 00:19:18 It was both, really. I was able to get some good internships early on when I was in the Bay Area. And then a guy I was dating connected me to a job that ended up helping me get my job at Nerdwall because it helped pat out my resume and give me more experience. So it was kind of all of the above, just everything that a city offers you in terms of connection and jobs. And I also just loved living in San Francisco. So that was a nice plus too. Let's get on to the next part of the listener's question.

Starting point is 00:19:44 The option of saving money early but having fewer opportunities in the future. What are your thoughts on that, Sean? I think it's a bit of a false choice here. I think our listener can save money wherever they are, if they're really creative. Yes, you'll be able to save less in New York City, given how expensive it is. But they don't know for sure that they will have fewer opportunities if they decide to move to the suburbs. Because you just never know what opportunities might come your way in the future. Yes, you may not have as many as if you're living in a big city like New York,

Starting point is 00:20:15 but you just should keep your mind open to the fact that your career is going to go in all sorts of different places that you're not really going to anticipate. I love that you say that, and this might sound really woo-woo, but I was reflecting on the past decade or so of my life and the way my career has gone. And I had such a clear plan of exactly how it needed to look. And I thought that I could control the outcome by, A, controlling the city I live in and the people that I talk to and all these things, but the truth is sometimes opportunities are just a matter of luck. And yes, you can create your luck by putting yourself in the right place and the right time. But just like you said, you don't know where these opportunities are going to come from. So I think it's just putting one foot in front of the other

Starting point is 00:20:56 and making decisions that align with what you need at the time. And also, I think my experience living in Portland over the past almost eight years now shows that you can have good opportunities living in a small city, especially when you're working a job that can be done from pretty much anywhere. I've been able to have a lower cost of living, buy a house, have a dog, do all the things I wanted to do here. But I'm not living in, you know, a big media. hub necessarily, except I kind of am because we're all living on the internet, which is the biggest media hub there is, right? So depending on what industry you're in, you may be able to have plenty of opportunities in a smaller city. And one more thing I will add, I'm not a medical student.

Starting point is 00:21:34 I don't know exactly how it works, but one thing that I know has worked for me throughout my career is no matter how big or small the opportunity was focusing on skill development and looking for opportunities in whatever place I'm working to develop those skills. So I know the listener was worried about maybe not getting as good opportunities in suburban areas and maybe not being able to build as many skill sets. But wherever you are, I think is important to just make the folks of what opportunities you have there to build your skills. I think that's a good point because a lot of times people may not even really have a say in where they're moving to with our listener. They can rank their top choices, but ultimately an algorithm is making the decision.

Starting point is 00:22:12 And even if an algorithm isn't making the big decision for you, sometimes family circumstances might draw you back to a certain city if you're trying to help out a loved one, or maybe you just get a job in a place that isn't your number one pick. But if you're focusing on the skills that you're building while you are wherever you are, that's the number one thing. So you can at least move forward even if you weren't living where you ideally would want to be. So I actually did that during the early stages of my career in the U.S. I had moved from London.

Starting point is 00:22:39 I only moved with, I believe it was $6,000. That's all I had. To my name, I was doing an internship at the time that was paying. me $8 an hour and I didn't want to end up, you know, in a serious financial hole. So one of the things that I did is I moved into a room. I rented a room in a house with my son to start with. So I was able to maintain a small emergency fund and also continue to save until my income increased enough to where I was comfortable living on my own. Sometimes you have to make those short-term sacrifices. It wasn't fun living with other people, especially coming from London where I was living alone.

Starting point is 00:23:13 But having financial security at the time was more important to me. so important. And also, kudos on having an emergency fund when you were moving like that. I think, of course, you had a son, so you were really focused on security and stability. When I moved out to the Bay Area, I think I had $300 to my name and a lot of really polite conversations with my dad to ask him to help me cover my rent for the first year. So thanks, Papa Piles for that. Wouldn't be here where I am without that freedom, that's for sure. But having a move like this is a good time. All right, Let me get Pepper. Pepper got something to say too.

Starting point is 00:23:50 Yeah, she says, you need to sacrifice this recording and take me on a walk. We'll go on a walk in a little bit, okay? Hey, Pepper Girl. She's so stinky from the rain. Okay, go lay down, please. Thank you. Goodbye. I think something our listeners should consider is what they might be willing to sacrifice to accomplish multiple goals at once. And also how they can get creative to save some money when they are living in an expect. area. So, for example, if they really want to live in that expensive city where they think

Starting point is 00:24:20 they'll have more opportunities, what can they do to still save money for retirement or build up an emergency fund? You know, maybe that means foregoing some Broadway plays when you're in New York or, like, you did Elizabeth having some roommates. Also, just try to get as creative as you can to save money while enjoying your life. I recommend everyone join their local library and see what perks that might afford them. Like, in the Portland area, you can actually rent local experiences. Here you can rent going to our incredible Japanese garden, which otherwise run you over $20 per ticket. So there are all sorts of cool benefits that help you enjoy your life and your city and also save you money. I have experienced that in two cities now, having to cut back

Starting point is 00:25:01 on things to live in an expensive city. When I lived in Lagos, Nigeria again, I did not have a car because I could not afford to have a car and also pay my rent. And I rode around on what you call an Okada. So it's essentially like a bike. It is a motorbike and it's pretty dangerous, but it would cost me maybe, I don't know, two bucks a ride versus 20 bucks a ride for an Uber depending on where I was going. So the equivalent is like a lime scooter, basically, which people do take all around the cities and they are super dangerous. They are, listen, those Al-Qaeda's would drive the opposite direction in traffic. Like, they're very dangerous and a little ridiculous. Yes, but you know, I love a good thrill.

Starting point is 00:25:42 So I didn't mind. It's my thrill for the day. And then when I lived in Florida, one of the things I had to sacrifice, which I love to do, is travel. Because I couldn't afford to do it during the earlier years of living there. But hey, you saved for a few years. You avoided for one travel for a few years. And now look at you. You have a place that you really love that's less expensive.

Starting point is 00:26:00 you have your son in a great school that he seems to like, and you can travel. You took some great trips last year. All the sacrifices were worth it is what I'm hearing you say, Sean. Well, this is also a good time for our listener to understand what kind of city they might want to live in long term, because, yeah, they're going to be in this location wherever they land for six years. So they should maybe visit some of these locations ahead of time if they can in these coming months and realize, okay, is living in New York City feasible for them? For me, you know, I visited many times.

Starting point is 00:26:30 I have some great friends that live there. Every time I visit, I think this is so fun. I would never want to live here. I love living in a smaller city where I can know my neighbors. I can walk down the street and I'm not like bumping elbows with a thousand people. So think about what kind of city really resonates with your lifestyle and your values and your desired lifestyle. And just think about all of those things and how that might connect to where you might end up. So is nature important to you?

Starting point is 00:26:55 Would you like to be somewhere that is central to the arts? Because that's a huge value point for you. Maybe you want to live in close proximity to family because that's important. Yeah, or public transit. I mean, think about living in New York. You can just hop on a subway or a bus and be anywhere you want. And, you know, it might take you 30, 40 minutes. But still, you don't have to get in your car, drive somewhere, look for parking.

Starting point is 00:27:15 That's been a sacrifice living in Portland where the public transit infrastructure is not quite as robust. It's like I kind of drive everywhere, but I do love to drive. So at least that's okay. The listener also mentioned saving for retirement. I think it's a good time to talk about saving for retirement. in your 20s. Saving as early as you can is really important. And I'll give you an example with some numbers that lays this out. So if you start saving at 26, you save $500 a month, retire at 67, and you have a pre-retirement rate of return of 6%. At your retirement age, you'll have just under

Starting point is 00:27:50 $1.3 million. Now, take those same figures, but you start to save at 32 when our listener says that they'll be done with their residency. At their retirement age, they will only have around $850,000. So that's a difference of around half a million dollars in those six years of saving. And that's a lot of money that I could do a lot of things with. And by the way, we use NerdWallet's retirement calculator to get these numbers. So highly recommend playing with those to see what your own retirement savings could potentially look like. That is a hobby of mine that I enjoy doing. And that's why you're a nerd, Elizabeth, because you enjoy playing with their retirement. I do, I do, I really do. But a big thing that our listeners should be considering, too,

Starting point is 00:28:34 is that they're in a really different situation from most people because they may be making $500 to $750,000 a year once they're post their residency, which you mentioned earlier, Elizabeth. So that does slightly change the calculus here. Yes, we want people to be saving as much as they can for as long as they can, but they might have the opportunity to backload all of their savings and catch up for those six years that they weren't able to save as much, which might make the difference in how much they can save in each location less of an important factor compared with the lifestyle question of where they would want to live and what kind of life living in that kind of city would afford them. Maybe the listener in the next couple of years will be a fire disciple

Starting point is 00:29:14 and they'll decide to do coastfire or something and save a whole chunk of their salary for early retirement because that is a lot of money depending on their debt and their expenses. They might have a lot of wiggle room to save. I would love to talk with this. listener in six years after they finish their residency and see how much or how little they're attempted by lifestyle creep because going from making $100,000 to $750,000 a year would make me want to buy a brand new house with cash and maybe a really nice car and maybe a nice handbag too. Let's talk about it, Sean. So Nerd Wallet, if you are listening, if you happen to increase our salary to 500 or 750K, what's the first thing you do, Sean? You know, I actually think

Starting point is 00:29:57 think that would be a great experiment for the company to run to see how we can embody this lifestyle change on the podcast just to inform our listeners. So let's take note of that and talk about it with our manager. We need a case study. If I got that amount of money, I would buy a new house where my partner and I live in Portland is a sweet, cute little home, but it's a little small and we would love just maybe one more bedroom. So I think that would be top of my list is a new bigger home. What about you? Bigger home sounds lovely. You know, I'm in forever, But I would buy a house if I got that kind of salary increase. I would. Yeah. And I'd be able to comfortably pay for the repairs and still have lots left over. That's really it because part of why owning a home is

Starting point is 00:30:39 annoying is because you have to repair things yourself. But if you have enough money, you just throw it at people who fix the problems for you. One downside though, Sean, is that you might be on the show yourself more because I'd be on vacation a lot. I'm the same. Okay, well, maybe at that point we'll have AI generated robot versions of ourselves that we can have. Now you're taking it too far. You're taking it too far. Okay, sorry, sorry, sorry. We'll never do that. We are all human authenticity here on smart money. Okay, well, I got to ask you, Elizabeth, of these three options that we've been discussing with our listener, which one would you choose and why? The honest answer is I would choose option number one, and that's because I have an unhealthy relationship with New York. I'm obsessed. And if I could live in New York in my early 20s and live out my sex in the city dreams, I'd absolutely take the opportunity. And I also would choose that option because I am a pretty good saver. And I know that once I got to that 500 or 750K mark, I would save a ton of money and I'd still be on track for retirement. And I'm sure you'd be able to still find ways to save when you're making less because $100,000, $120,000, it's not a lot in New York City, especially, I mean, in their early years,

Starting point is 00:31:47 they said they'll be making closer to maybe $60,000 to $80,000. So that's going to be pretty lean in New York City, but if you are frugal enough and you're creative enough, you can still tuck something away. And the listener has time on their hands, right? If they're tucking something away, even if it's a minimal amount, it's still going to compound over time and it's better than saving nothing at all. Well, me, I would probably go with option two because, as I said, New York City is a little bit too big of a city for me to live in. I would do exactly what I did all over again, living in San Francisco and in Oakland, being able to find my career opportunities. And, you know, I'll be honest here, I actually saved very little money before I got my job at Nerdwoll.

Starting point is 00:32:25 But, hey, I had a wonderful time living in the city that gave me the lifestyle that I wanted. Hey, guys, can I pop in here? Yes, everyone listening. This is our producer, Tess, who we call on from time to time to impart career wisdom, because she literally wrote a book on how to navigate your career. So, Tess, I didn't call on me this time, but I'm just popping in anyway. We always love to have you here. So what would you do, Tess?

Starting point is 00:32:48 Well, you know, I'm not even going to talk about what I would do, but as the resident old person, you said it. Old and fabulous. I've been around for a while. And I just kind of want to say to our listener and frankly, even to you guys, that, you know, these decisions that you make at the earlier stages of your life, they are not the entire determinants of how your life is going to go. They're just not. And so I would encourage the listener kind of not to imbue them with so much importance that you worry about how it's going to affect you, 20 years down the line, 30 years down the line. You will find out pretty quickly that life, it just doesn't work that way. What is the phrase?

Starting point is 00:33:35 We plan God laughs. Yes. You know, whether you're religious or not, you kind of get the idea there. Life is going to just toss all kinds of curves at you. So, you know, if you don't make the correct decision now, correct in quotes, it will in all likelihood turn out completely fine. That reminds me of a piece of advice I've heard where it's not necessarily about the decision that you make, but what you do with that decision. Yes. So you can always learn from a quote unquote wrong decision or one that doesn't make you as happy as you thought and choose differently next time.

Starting point is 00:34:08 I just feel like this question comes up so much with people particularly in their 20. And you don't have really perspective on it because you're so young. And I would say particularly this listener, they're becoming a doctor, which is completely amazing and admirable everywhere you go, right? So it doesn't really, really matter. And you're still going to get the skills that you need no matter where you go. So I would just say, don't worry about whether this turns out exactly the way you want it to because nothing in life is going to be that way. And all of this is going to change. And hey, our listener is at least thinking about these things. They're looking down the road to see how their decisions now might pan out in the future, which is more than I

Starting point is 00:34:56 could say for myself at this time. So good for them for even thinking about retirement savings at this early age. Certainly thinking about retirement savings is always a must if you can. But this notion that where you live, what school you go to, all of that is going to determine the rest of your life, it's just not true. Yeah. Thus endeth the lesson. I'll turn it back over to you guys. Thanks, Tess.

Starting point is 00:35:24 Thank you, Tess. Just to end on that beautiful note from Tess, who would have thought that I would go from a call center job, from living in Lagos, from living in all these different places in the world? to the smart money podcast. I never envisioned being a podcast co-host or even working in personal finance. So that is just a testament to how life does not always go how you plan, but it still can turn out beautiful. Elizabeth, I didn't know that you worked at a call center. I did two in the summers over college. And I think that in some ways that job really primed me for what I'm doing now and what you're doing now. She teaches you how to talk to anyone, yeah, and have a good conversation. So here you go. Every little step along the way, as crazy as it was, as wild as those rides,

Starting point is 00:36:08 you had on that like sketchy little motorbike and Legos were it got you to where you are now. So that's beautiful. Virtual group hug. Yeah. All right. Well, listener, let us know where you land. We'd love to continue this conversation with you. And that's all we have for this episode.

Starting point is 00:36:25 Remember that we're here to answer your money questions. So turn to the nerds and call or text us your questions at 901.730 6373. That's 901-730 nerd. nerd. You can also email us at podcast at nerdwalla.com. We want you to join us next time to hear us take on a number of your questions about retirement account rollovers. When are they a good idea? When are you okay leaving your retirement money where it is? We're going to help you answer that. Follow smart money on your favorite podcast app, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and IHeartRadio to automatically download new episodes. Here's our brief disclaimer. We are not your financial or investment advisors. This

Starting point is 00:37:04 nerdy info is provided for general educational and entertainment purposes and may not apply to your specific circumstances. This episode was produced by Tess Biglin and Anna Halhawski. Hilary Georgie helped with editing, Nick Krasimi mixed our audio, and a big thank you to NerdWallax editors for all their help. And with that said, until next time, turn to the nerds.

NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast - How to Balance Career Opportunity and Cost of Living (Plus: ChatGPT Ads Could Change How You Spend)

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