NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast - How to Prepare for Stagflation and Make Your Insurance Work Harder

Episode Date: May 22, 2025

Learn what stagflation could mean for your finances and how to tell if you need life insurance. Do you still need life insurance if you’ve built enough wealth? What does stagflation mean for your financial plan? Hosts Elizabeth Ayoola and Sean Pyles discuss how to determine whether your life insurance coverage still fits your needs and what to watch for as economists warn about potential stagflation. First, along with NerdWallet senior news writer Anna Helhoski and inflation expert Taryn Phaneuf, they break down how to think about your financial protection in uncertain times, discussing stagflation—what it is, why it’s so rare, and what signs to look for now—and offering tips on monitoring inflation, adjusting your savings strategy, and reducing high-interest debt.  Then, listener Adam joins Sean and Elizabeth to explore whether increasing umbrella insurance means he can lower his auto coverage, when to switch to a group life policy through work, and how to estimate college savings needs for three kids. They discuss comparing life insurance policies, how to factor net worth into coverage decisions, and why regular insurance check-ins are key. Use NerdWallet’s free tool to compare life insurance quotes and find the right coverage for you and your family https://www.nerdwallet.com/insurance/life/life-insurance-quotes  In their conversation, the Nerds discuss: life insurance vs net worth, term life insurance, umbrella vs collision insurance, when to update life insurance, group life insurance policy, employer life insurance coverage, best life insurance for parents, convert group life insurance, stagflation, what is stagflation, signs of stagflation, stagflation 2025, Consumer Price Index April 2025, high-yield savings accounts inflation, saving during inflation, emergency fund inflation, umbrella insurance minimums, collision coverage and umbrella insurance, auto insurance comparison, saving for college with 529, 529 contribution calculator, estimating college savings, tuition benefits, financial checklist after remarriage, insurance tips for high net worth, choosing term vs whole life, how to save on insurance, switching insurance after marriage, family insurance planning, life insurance for spouse, when to drop term life insurance, inflation trends 2025, how to prepare for stagflation, and Federal Reserve inflation targets. To send the Nerds your money questions, call or text the Nerd hotline at 901-730-6373 or email [e-mail]. Like what you hear? Please leave us a review and tell a friend.

Life insurance. You've probably been told you need it, but do you? And if so, how do you know what kind to get? Today we help a listener figure out whether umbrella insurance is enough. 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 Elizabeth Ayola. This episode we answer listeners' questions about life insurance. But first, our weekly money news round up where we break down the latest in the world of finance to help you be smarter with your money.

And today we're asking what it means if the economy enters into something called stagflation. Our news colleague, Anna Hojkowski, is here to explain more. Hey, Anna. Hey, Elizabeth. To learn more about stagflation and what's happening with inflation right now, we're joined today by my news colleague, Taryn Fenouf, who tracks all things prices and inflation. Welcome, Taryn. Hi, Anna.

Thanks for having me. So first off, what is stagflation and how is it different from regular inflation? Stagflation describes a rare set of circumstances in the economy when inflation and stagnation occur at the same time. Inflation, which is something we're all pretty familiar with, is the rate at which prices increase. A little inflation is seen as a sign of a normal, healthy economy, and the Federal Reserve targets

a low, stable inflation rate of around 2%. But when prices rise too fast, it makes it hard for consumers and businesses to keep up. Then there's stagnation. That describes an economy that is basically stalled. It's experiencing little, if any, growth. In a situation like that, demand in the economy is very low.

Businesses have pulled back and they might even be cutting staff, consumers are spending less money because they're unemployed or they're worried about being unemployed. And when demand is low, prices tend to fall. So as you've probably realized, inflation and stagnation don't usually go hand in hand. With inflation, the economy is running hot, but with stagnation, it's slowing down. So when these two things happen simultaneously, it means that something is off.

What are some of the signs that stagflation is happening in the economy? Economists look for some key signs. Are prices rising? Is productivity slowing or flat? Is unemployment going up? If all these things are happening, that's a recipe for stagflation. Wages factor in as well. If wage increases are keeping pace with prices, consumers have a better chance of weathering the storm. But it's unlikely that wages will increase if productivity slows and unemployment rises.

And how does stagflation affect consumers? It's a double whammy. As prices rise across the board, consumers might tighten their budgets. The antidote to that budget crunch would be things like pay raises. But if the economy is stagnating, those opportunities are less probable. One unofficial measure of stagnation is the misery index. Can you tell us about that? The misery index is calculated by adding together the unemployment and inflation rates. The higher it is, the more miserable the economy feels.

The good news is that right now the misery index is low. Not quite as low as the years preceding the pandemic, but nowhere near the recent highs during the pandemic and the Great Recession or historic peaks during the 1970s and 80s. Right. The 70s and 80s saw a prolonged period of stagflation. Now how did that happen? In the 1970s and 80s, the US got hit with crisis after crisis. Government spending was up due to the Vietnam War and new domestic policies.

Then there were multiple recessions and two different energy crises that spiked oil prices. As a result, inflation skyrocketed, economic growth stalled, and unemployment rose. Now normally, unemployment costs cool inflation, but this time it didn't. When inflation reached more than 12% in November 1974, unemployment was at almost 7%. The jobless rate was similarly high six years later, when inflation hit almost 15% in March 1980. Eventually, the Fed raised interest rates dramatically to bring inflation down, and the experience fundamentally changed how monetary policy works in the US. The new approach is likely one reason

we've avoided stagflation more recently. So when was the most recent instance where stagflation was a concern, and what were the worrying conditions then? Stagflation became a major concern in 2022. We were two years into the coronavirus pandemic and demand was running hot, but the supply side of the economy was struggling

due to a few factors. Mainly it was supply chain issues and then Russia invaded Ukraine, which pushed oil prices higher. The Fed took steps to combat inflation, but the effects were slow and people worried it wasn't working. The concern was that the economy was gonna stall,

but inflation wasn't. And that's the conundrum we call stagflation. What's the difference between the stagflation era in the 70s through the early 80s versus now? Right now, everyone is waiting to see what impact the Trump administration's sweeping tariffs have. Tariffs have the potential to simultaneously raise prices and slow growth, depending on

how severe they are and how long they're in place. One other major difference between then and now is that oil prices actually dropped recently to the lowest levels we've seen since 2021. So at least the price situation isn't being exacerbated by high or rising transportation costs. How do you solve a problem like stagflation? What tools does the government have? It's tricky because like I said earlier,

inflation and stagnation don't typically exist simultaneously. To fight inflation, the Fed raises interest rates, but to fight stagnation, it lowers them. Then during the pandemic and the Great Recession, we also saw more government spending to help keep the economy going. But when both inflation and stagnation hit at once, like in the 1970s, those tools can work against each other. For now, the Fed is being cautious,

but may have to decide which side of the problem to focus on first. Okay, so right now, based on the key factors that economists usually assess, inflation, growth, and unemployment, is it safe to say that stagflation isn't happening right now? That's right. Inflation has cooled. April's consumer price index, which measures inflation, shows 2.3% annually or 2.8% excluding food and energy, which are more volatile. That's heading toward the Fed's target range of 2%, but there's still a little way to go. Growth was pretty strong over the last few years,

but in the first quarter of 2025, gross domestic product data was negative. That was mainly due to an uptick in imports as businesses stocked up on foreign goods ahead of tariffs. Second quarter data should hopefully provide a clearer picture of where growth is trending. Unemployment has stayed relatively low and stable, but there are some signs of softening in the labor market, including a decline in job openings. So there are some warning

bells going off right now for economists. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has even acknowledged that there is a heightened risk of stagflation ahead. Is there anything that people can do to prepare for stagflation if that is in fact where we're heading? Yes, definitely. Start by building or rebuilding your emergency fund. High-yield savings accounts are still offering decent interest rates at the moment, so that could be a good place for protecting your savings from inflation. Second, the high interest rate environment makes it especially expensive to borrow money, so it's a good

idea to reduce your debt if you're able. Prioritize high interest debt like credit cards. Third, consider what major purchases or expenses you can postpone to maintain your cash cushion. Inflation can be a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. If people go out and panic buy goods because they're afraid prices are going to go up, they might still end up paying more because of the sudden spike in demand. Finally, stay open to job opportunities. The job market is full of uncertainty right now, but it's still wise to keep a lookout for ways to boost your earnings.

Thanks for helping us out today, Taryn. Happy to do it. And thank you, Anna. Of course. Up next, we answer a listener's question about life insurance. But before we get into that, a reminder to send us your money questions. Do you want to know the smartest way to budget for your summer vacation?

Or are you in the market for a new credit card but aren't sure how to find the one that's best for you? Leave us a voicemail or text us on the Nerd Hotline at 901-730-6373. That's 901-730-NERD. Or you can also pop us an email at podcast at nerdwallet.com. In a moment, this episode's money question. Stay with us. We are back and answering your money questions

to help you make smarter financial decisions. This episode, we're joined by Adam, a listener from Pennsylvania who has some questions about how much insurance they really need. Adam, welcome to Smart Money. Thanks for having me. To start, I'd love to hear a little bit about your financial situation in general. So can you describe what feels good about your money? Where you think you might have some room for improvement? I've been working as a physician for about 20 years now. I feel pretty good about my overall savings. I actually met with a financial advisor for just a one-year period for the first time in the last year just to kind of check in and see what he thought about where I was. Overall, I think my

retirement's good. I think with three kids, I certainly feel like I'm lacking a little bit in their college fund savings. It's hard to know obviously how much I need to have and how much to have set aside, but I know that was the biggest hole when we were examining kind of my overall financial picture. But you know, I try to do the, you know, have the three to six months emergency fund. My retirement seems to be on track. And in the last couple of years, I switched over to a high deductible savings plan, just to get a little bit of extra benefit for tax deferment there too.

And Adam, how old are your kids? I'm also a parent. I have twin 13 year olds, boy, girl twins and a younger son who just turned 11. Okay. So some are a few years away from college. So definitely thinking about it. Yeah. And are you married?

Do you have a partner? So I'm actually remarried this past Sunday. I just got married. Oh, congratulations. Congrats. Yeah. So obviously there was a bit of a change in my financial situation. I was divorced four years ago. And so that obviously kind of threw everything for a loop in terms of any things you have

planned to kind of change things up. So I just recently got remarried and, you know, obviously that changes things again. And so it happened during my time with this financial advisor. So he said, you know, I threw him that information. Well, he said, okay, well, that changes things up a little bit. What happened some of the biggest changes that you made as a result of a one being a parent, which you've happened for a number of years now, but also getting remarried. Those are some big changes.

Obviously, you know, for instance, I never carried life insurance or thought about it until I had kids. And then that was the impetus for for life insurance. At the same time, started saving for college. But around the time of the divorce, I had to stop putting away money for college just because that was one of the places where I just I needed a little bit of extra money. Obviously, this financial situation has changed then. And then in the last year and a half or two years, I was able to start re-contributing to their 529 accounts. But yeah, I mean, it's sort of, you know, it was adjusting to, you know, child support

payments and things like that. And living in two separate households and then just having one contributor to the mortgage. But my now wife moved in, gosh, a year and a half ago. And so obviously then we start splitting up mortgage and other bills and that changed the dynamics as well. Maybe a little more room to breathe in your budget. For sure.

Yeah, it definitely did. And we sort of sat down together when we figured out how it was all gonna play out, but it definitely gave more wiggle room for vacations and saving for college and things like that. Got you. So you wrote to us with some insurance questions. So can you tell us how this ties into maybe all of these life transitions you're having if it does at all? And then what your questions are around that? I mean, it actually came out of listening to your podcast episode about

insurance in general. And while I was listening, I realized, hey, maybe I should check in with my insurance because I like to do that every year or two. And it started when you were talking about things that you can adjust and collision insurance and being responsible for other people's bills if you were to get in an accident. And then you went on to talk about umbrella insurance, which I had, but I realized my net worth has gone up over the last 10, 15 years since I got it. I decided to go from 1 million to 2 million coverage. But then in doing so, I'm realizing, well, does that then cover any extra

cost? If my car insurance doesn't cover for, you know, for collision? My question that I posed to you over email was, would it make sense to just lower my collision coverage if I have a higher umbrella insurance coverage? Because any spillover will just go into my umbrella anyway. So the answer is you may not be able to because to have umbrella insurance your insurer requires you to have certain minimums coverage for your home and for your auto. And if for example you didn't have that minimum amount of coverage and you had an umbrella

policy on top of that and you had a gap between the two, you personally would have to pay out of pocket to cover that gap in coverage. So you need to have that minimum amount and your insurer may well not even allow you to have less than that. So in general, it's just better to have higher collision coverage anyway, most likely depending on your car and your needs. And since umbrella insurance is so affordable anyway, you're likely fine keeping it as it is. And since your network has increased, having that higher amount is a smart idea too. But if you're concerned that the collision coverage that you have is maybe more expensive than you want, that's when you'd want to shop around at least once a year to compare rates on auto insurance specifically. So have you done that in the past or recently?

I have. Well, and actually, I felt quite fortunate because my new wife is part of USAA. Oh, great. So I look at things like consumer reports, and it's always one of the top rated ones. And then doing some research into their website and looking at their rates, et cetera, and consumer service, I realized it would be a great option. And so I switched over to them recently after having some comparisons. And they actually have a good tool online, too,

for if you want to make this one change, how would it affect your rates? And so I certainly played around a little bit with 100,000, 300,000 coverage versus 300, 500. I did not know about that gap coverage. And I guess potentially, I don't know that it makes a huge difference, but I could check with them to see, Hey, what's that minimum that I would have to keep?

I would be really surprised if they didn't have that anyway, because it's in their interest to, to provide an adequate policy for your needs. Did you shop around elsewhere when you were going over to USAA? At NerdWallet, we often recommend people get quotes from two or three places before making a decision. And we have a pretty handy comparison tool that can do some of this work for you. But that's a nice way to get a good feel for what you might be able to get from one company

to the next, because prices can vary pretty wildly for coverage. Actually, six months prior, I had shopped around and stayed with Geico. I had looked at Geico. I think I'd looked at Amica just because of their good reputation and at least one other company and Geico was still the best deal for me. And I had had one fairly small claim with them. It had gone smoothly. So I figured, hey, I'll stay with them.

But then realizing once I got married, I had the option of USA. I didn't go back and compare USA to another few. I just compared it to Geico to see what apples to apples, how it would pan out. And it was for car insurance, it was basically about the same, but it gave other benefits too in terms of discount

because it was a better homeowners insurance coverage. So yeah, so I ended up switching. I would say it's worth comparing all of them side by side just to make sure that you have the best coverage for the best price. With insurance, especially car insurance, it typically doesn't pay to remain loyal to one company or another. And in fact, we've seen over time,

some companies may well charge people more because they're not likely to shop around. I like that you are shopping around and doing your due diligence every year. And it sounds like ultimately you are trying to shave some dollars off of your insurance. So I'm curious about where you would like to put those extra dollars and if you have anything in mind in terms of what you want to do with that money.

So I actually just sat down trying to sort of make calculations about college. And so I'm actually putting that into kind of raising again, the amount that I'm putting month to month. So I have automatic withdrawal For the 529s and I was actually playing catch-up with my youngest because he didn't have as much in his And so I was able to now increase theirs to all the same amount per month To try and catch up to what I'm guessing using some simple math about how much I'll need for them. And thankfully, through my job, I actually get some tuition benefit as well.

So then I sort of have to factor that in. But that's where the extra money is definitely going. I just re-upped that or increased that in the last two weeks. I know you also mentioned earlier that you're not sure exactly how much you should save for their college funds. So how did you come to that estimate? What are your thoughts? Yeah, so I actually said, okay, in terms of top private universities, what's the cost in terms of the lowest cost of state schools? What's the cost? And then I just kind of did pick the middle, because I don't know, I figured kind of between the three of them, maybe it'll average out a little bit. Honestly, I don't really have a clue about where they're going to want to go or whatnot. So I just kind of took an average of that and obviously factored in room and board,

but just found some numbers online that gave me estimates and then factored in the tuition benefit for my job, and then kind of back calculated from what I'd saved to see what my gap was, and then how much I needed to put in per month. Now, in that, I actually gave myself a cushion, I think, because I didn't account for the growth. And I thought, well, that'll give me that cushion if they do more than just the average cost. Because obviously, these are going into growth investments.

But I think the ones that are currently in at least for my oldest two are getting about six and a half percent right now. They're fairly conservative. Well, I'm glad to hear that you are saving through 529s, because those are among the most flexible ways to save for a college education, you can use the money from that that for a trade school if your kids want to go that route or if they don't use all of the money in it, you can eventually roll it over to an IRA account so you can jumpstart your kids retirement savings, which is fantastic.

But getting clear on how much you need to save might be a good idea. And if you want to talk with that financial planner again, they have tools that can model out how much you would need to save. They would factor things in like the growth rate that you would expect based on the investments in your portfolio, as well as the average rate of tuition increases. Because you need to factor in inflation too to get a real understanding of what your growth might be and how much you might need to invest. So I know, Adam, you also had some questions around life insurance. So talk with us about that because since you are a dad that's pretty important to have. So I know, Adam, you also had some questions around life insurance. So talk with us about that, because since you are a dad, that's pretty important to

have. So what are your thoughts? What kind of coverage do you have? And where do you think you might need some help? I started life insurance 13 years ago, when the twins were born. And originally, I had a policy with a company to $1 million policies, one that expired at 55 and one that expired at 65. Each year I have open enrollment and through my job, I started reconsidering the supplemental life insurance that they offer. And it looks like I might be able to get a slightly better deal, although it may be a

bit of a wash, but if I switched over to their coverage. And so I started kind of crunching the numbers a little bit and see if it made sense. But then I also started wondering to myself, well, originally I had this first policy expiring at 55. But once I reach enough wealth that essentially has that amount factoring into account who my beneficiaries are including my wife and then the three kids. Instead of waiting to 55, do I just wait till I have enough that that would basically cover and feel like it would cover them for college and all the things to get them through kind

of their early adult life? So right, those are the things I was considering. One, do I switch over to the supplemental life insurance through work, but I run the risk of if I switch jobs, losing it and knowing if another job has that available. And then two, hey, maybe before 55, I can actually drop this extra policy. And just to be clear, you're talking about term policies.

Term policy, correct. Okay, and for folks listening who may not totally understand life insurance, there's term life insurance and then permanent sometimes called whole life insurance term expires at a certain time as you might expect. So Adam, it sounds like yours go to 55 and then 65, correct? Whereas a whole policy would extend throughout your whole life and whole is often much more expensive while term can get more expensive as you get older. And when you're thinking about how much you need

from a life insurance policy, whether term or whole, at minimum you would want enough to cover any outstanding debts or funeral expenses. You also wanna think about how much income your family would need to maintain their quality of life without your income. So think about the general liquidity needs for your family, expenses they might face,

the mortgage you have to pay off, college funding needs that they might have. And a common rule of thumb is to have around 10 times your annual income in coverage. You mentioned that your net worth has grown to a place where you think some of your liquidity might cover these needs. Can I ask what is your net worth?

Um, gosh, I recalculated recently, I believe I am at, I guess I would just first tell you my own personal net worth, I guess would be at close to 1.5, maybe more like 1.3 to 1.5 million. Congrats. That's great. And remind me again exactly how much coverage you have across these policies. So 2 million total, 1 million policy. Well, it might seem great to have this liquidity that is that amount. Having life insurance that is at your net worth or greater can actually preserve a lot

of your liquidity for your family too. So if something does happen, your family would have that amount of your net worth plus what they would get from these policies. You can bring a lot of flexibility to your family if something does happen. And you mentioned as well that you're considering moving over to your employer's group term life policy, and you mentioned that you were concerned about losing it if you do leave this job. I would encourage you to look into the details of this policy because a lot of group term

life insurance policies are convertible, which means that you can convert it to being your own policy if you leave within a certain amount of time you have to make this decision. And typically when this happens, you actually don't need medical underwriting for this term policy, which is a really nice benefit. But again, this often has to be done within 30 or 60 days of leaving the job. So look into the details of your policy, because if it's less expensive than you're paying now and between that policy and the other one, you would exceed your current net worth and coverage. That might just be an extra cushion to have for less money. Right. I didn't know about that.

And how did you land on the policies that you currently have? What was that process like? So you asked me to recollect 13 years ago. I mean, I might've done some researching online about good places to get it, but honestly I knew I wanted term. I just, I had done a little bit of looking into whether or not I wanted term or whole life insurance, but yeah, I mean, in terms of choosing the company, I honestly don't think I was as well informed as I am now in terms of trying to figure out where to go is, you know, I do a little bit more research into that now.

So, right. I mean, no one teaches you how to do these things. That's why we're here to help you do that. So as you're considering this new policy, it's a good time to look into the current policies that you have and the group term life insurance policy from your employer and look at a few different things from each company. You'll want to look at the financial strength of each company, as in like, are they able to pay out if needed?

And then you also want to look at what complaints there might be against the company. You can review this with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and also review what the complaints might be about. So that can give you a feel for whether they're difficult to file claims with or if they take a long time to pay out things that you wouldn't want your family to have to deal with after you're gone. Also you want to confirm that they have the types of policies that you want. And I do want to mention that NerdWallet has a pretty handy life insurance comparison tool

that you can use to help shop around and make sure that you do the policies that fit your needs. That's one way to make this all a little bit easier for you. One concern that I thought about though, if I were to switch policies, like let's say I want to leave this company, I did some looking into maybe they're not as stable as I as I would hope. But how now that I'm 13 years older than I was when I originally got it, how much do I need to worry about having higher premiums? Obviously, the premiums go up, but that was factored in when I first got it. But my premiums now stay the same every year.

I wonder, am I going to lose out on a good deal that I got when I was younger? If I kind of drop them and switch to somebody else? They may be more expensive. I recently switched or got a new term policy and I'm older than I was when I had my original one so I am paying a little bit more but I will say depending on how much coverage you have obviously it didn't put a dent in my budget paying an extra couple of dollars. And again the benefit of group term is that it's so much more affordable. So you can look

into what you would be paying with a standalone policy from a different company versus the group term life insurance. I did some digging before this conversation and I found that for a five hundred thousand dollar life insurance policy, I would pay around eleven dollars each month for a group term life with what we have at NerdWallet. And then an estimate that I got from Policy Genius was around $40 a month for the same coverage. You do have to weigh the question of whether you're going to leave your job, and then you don't know what the increase might go to. Do you think you're going to stay at your current employer for a while or do you think you might hop around? How are you feeling about that? That's the plan to stay with them for a while. I mean, they have, it's a stable job, they

have great benefits, things are going well at the job. There's also the the tuition benefit, which is huge. And so I'm sort of I'm obviously I that as well. But but yeah, for the I plan on staying there for the long term. So in that case, it might just be a better bet. But there's always the gamble involved, you never know. And that's the risk of any financial decision. It really comes down to numbers and what helps you sleep at night too, because insurance is all about helping you feel better about the unknowns and the risks of the world and doing it in

a way that is affordable for you. And I want to go back to your relationship with your wife. Have you talked about life insurance with her? Does she have her own policies? She does not. And we had a discussion about that recently, because I think that's also an option through my job is to get insurance for my spouse. She does not have children of her own. And obviously, I lived several years with supporting my kids and without her additional income. And so, I mean, I said to her, as far as I'm concerned, you didn't need to get it on my behalf. And so for now, we weren't going to get her life insurance just because of not having those dependents.

I understand that. Are you sharing your mortgage cost? Yes. Okay. That might be an area where having life insurance could really help you. You know, you never want to think about these things actually happening, but if the worst happens and your wife passes away, having a life insurance policy would make your day to day life likely a lot easier because you would be better able to cover something like your mortgage. And for somewhere between 20 and $40 a month, that can go really far and just make everything much easier. Cause think about how easily you spend $40 a month.

But putting that money toward financial peace of mind is a really smart investment. Okay, yeah. Well, Adam, how are you feeling about your insurance needs now? Do you have any other questions for us? Good? No, I mean I feel yeah over the years. I just learned more and more Obviously, this is just adding to that and having listened to that podcast getting a few questions answered here

It makes me feel more comfortable about how to shop around and what I need but no I'm overall feeling pretty good about it. Great Well, I would say your main piece of homework, not that I'm telling you what to do with your money since we don't do that here, would be to compare the group term life insurance policy you have from your employer and seeing whether it's convertible.

Just in case you do end up deciding to leave this current job, you might want to take that policy with you. Well, keep us updated on what you decide to do. We always like hearing from our listeners after we chat. We'll do, yeah. Great. Well, Adam, thank you for coming we chat. We'll do, yeah. Great. Well, Adam, thank you for coming on and talking with us.

Thanks for having me. That's all we have for this episode. Remember listener that we are 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. You can also email us at podcastatnerdwallet.com.

We'll be back next week to answer more of your money questions. Follow Smart Money on your favorite podcast app, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and iHeartRadio to automatically download new episodes. And here's our brief disclaimer. We are not your financial or investment advisors. This nerdy information is provided for general, educational, and entertainment purposes, and it may not apply to your specific circumstances. This episode was produced by Tess Viglin and Anna Helhawsky. Nick Karissimi mixed our audio.

And a big thank you to NerdWallet's editors for all their help. And with that said, until next time, turn to the nerds.