NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast - Money News: Lawsuit Could Change How Houses are Sold; Also, a $23.5K Payout … in Coins

Episode Date: November 8, 2023

Learn how recent headlines could impact your finances, including a federal real estate ruling and new employment figures. Hosts Sean Pyles and Anna Helhoski start by dissecting the latest monthly jobs report and its potential impact on the Federal Reserve's interest rate policies, then explain how a recent federal jury's decision on real estate agent commissions could reshape the way homes are bought and sold in the United States. They then turn their attention to former cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried's conviction on various counts of criminal fraud.  With the announcement that popular budgeting app Mint will be retiring, the Nerds offer tips on how to transition to alternative budgeting tools. They also discuss open enrollment season for health insurance and other benefits, emphasizing the importance of making informed choices about insurance coverage. To wrap up the episode, Sean and Anna share an unusual legal story involving a subcontractor, a welding company, and a large stash of coins. Find out why cash isn't always king and why it may not pay to be difficult to work with in your financial dealings. If you’re looking for an app to track all your money in one place, then check out the free NerdWallet app: https://nerdwallet.com/app  In their conversation, the Nerds discuss: job reports, a realtor price-fixing ruling, crypto convictions, coin payment, personal finance, money news, labor market, Federal Reserve, real estate commissions, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) lawsuit, Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX, Mint, budgeting apps, healthcare open enrollment, health insurance benefits,, financial news, federal jury, antitrust case, cryptocurrency, wire fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, and paying with coins. 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.

Welcome to NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast. I'm Sean Piles. And I'm Anna Helhosky. And this is our weekly personal finance news roundup, where we take a look at recent developments in the world of money that are important to your life and your bottom line. Anna, it's been a week, so many big developments in the world of finance. What do you say we do a big roundup for folks who haven't been paying as close attention as we have? Sounds good, Sean, and a preview of next week's show. We'll be talking with fellow nerd Sam Taub about what's going on in the stock and bonds markets these days. It's been a bit of a wild ride over the last few weeks, so Sam is going to join us to help explain what's happening and how you can deal with all the ups and downs. But before we get into this

episode's headlines, I've got a request for you, dear listener. Tell us about the absolute best thing that happened to you financially in 2023. Maybe you somehow snagged a reasonable deal on a new car, or you found some creative ways to deal with inflation. Whatever you did, we want to hear about it for a special end of the year episode we're putting together. Leave us a voicemail on the nerd hotline at 901-730-6373 or email a voice memo to podcast at nerdwallet.com. All right, on to some of the major money headlines from the last few days. So the monthly jobs report came out last Friday, and according to the Labor Department, U.S. employers added 150,000 jobs to the economy in October. That was about half of what was added in September, signaling a cooling off in the labor market. The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9%,

although part of that was due to the UAW strike. Most of those job additions were in either the healthcare industry or government jobs, which both have been lagging for years. The report said government hiring has now returned to its February 2020 pre-pandemic level. And as always, economy watchers will be looking to see how that affects the Fed's movements on interest rates. If this slowing in the labor market continues, it could signal to the Fed to continue pausing rates. Ana, we have a couple of court-related items this week. Count them off, Sean. I will. So anyone who owns their home and has bought that home over the last few decades knows

that when you go to sell that home, the real estate agents involved get a percentage, a commission, of the transaction. That's how they're paid. And the commission for both sides of the transaction, the buyer's agent and the seller's agent, comes out of the sales price. So from the seller's side. Right. So the seller pays for the buyer's agent because of a rule from the National

Association of Realtors called the Clear Cooperation Rule. But last week, a federal jury ruled that this amounts to collusion and artificially inflates commissions. Yes, and this was an antitrust case filed in 2019 involving more than a quarter of a million home sellers in Missouri. They sued the NAR along with several real estate giants, two of which settled before trial. So the jury awarded damages of $1.8 billion, but the judge has the flexibility to triple that amount. In addition, the judge could ban the clear cooperation rule nationwide, which would completely change how houses are bought and sold in the U.S. So in practical terms, what this could lead to is more

competition amongst buyer's agents, meaning they could lower their commission demands in order to work with a buyer instead of agreeing to the terms of a seller's agent. Buyer's agents could start negotiating commissions directly with their clients. But this won't shake out for a while. The NAR and one brokerage, Home Services for America, appealed the ruling. Another brokerage, Keller Williams, says it's considering doing the same. Meanwhile, a similar lawsuit in Illinois is seeking $40 billion in damages. Speaking of damage, how about that Sam Bankman freed? Yep. A jury has found the cryptocurrency poster boy guilty on seven counts of criminal fraud.

He was convicted of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, all connected to FTX, the crypto company he founded. It took the jury about four hours to convict him. He faces a maximum sentence of 110 years in prison. Sentencing won't be until next March. And Sean, I found this particularly interesting. In a statement after the verdict, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said, quoting here, this case should send a clear message to anyone who tries to hide their crimes behind a shiny new thing they claim no one else is smart enough to understand. The Justice Department will hold you accountable. And the lesson for all of us is always beware the

shiny new thing. And also maybe beware the shiny old thing. Sean, did you hear that Mint is shutting down? Yes, as long as you're referring to the Mint budgeting app, not the Mint that prints our money. That's right. Mint was one of the first budgeting apps to hit our phones about 15 years ago. And it's been hugely popular and highly rated ever since with millions of users. Intuit, the folks who also bring us TurboTax, which full disclosure is a NerdWall partner, bought Mint in 2009, but announced last week that it was retiring the app and sending users to another of its platforms, Credit Karma. Many Mint users were,

shall we say, not pleased. I guess you could say they had a bad taste in their mouth. Anyway, Mint and Credit Karma are really two separate things. One is a budgeting tool. The other is a credit score and money tracking tool. So if you're a Mint user, we have some advice for how to replace that service from an article by fellow nerd Lauren Schwan. First, it's not shutting down right away. So you have some time to plan.

So make sure you have a copy of everything on your Mint account. The app's Help Center page has a rundown of how to download it into a spreadsheet. Next, Lauren suggests that you take screenshots of any charts or other information that you find useful and write down the aspects of Mint that you found most helpful. You can use that when you're looking at other budgeting options. There are, in fact, lots of options for free budgeting apps and websites. Lauren mentions PocketGuard, Monarch, and YNAB, which is You Need a Budget. And of course, we'd be remiss if we didn't tout NerdWallet as a potential replacement for your money management tools. Check us out. And for any sites or apps that charge you money for their

service, take advantage first of any free trial periods. You don't like, you don't pay. Sean, it's worth a mention that open enrollment is underway for the health insurance marketplaces through the Affordable Care Act, as well as for most workplaces. Some did already start in October, but November is when things really get rocking and rolling. Such an exciting time. Almost as exciting as the thorough cleaning I gave my bathroom this weekend. Oh, not quite. It's complicated, but so very, very important.

This is when you're picking your health insurance choices along with life insurance, dental, and vision coverage and all that good stuff. So don't leave it to the last minute because it usually requires more than a little bit of homework. Don't assume you should just keep everything the same as this year. And that's a good opportunity for another plug for

our Smart Money special series on open enrollment. We've got the rundown on all kinds of benefits that folks will sign up for and how to go about making some of those decisions. It's running now, so make sure you don't miss those episodes. After you're done with all of that, you can go back to watching Netflix. And finally, Sean, one more story from the legal bench. Folks might have seen this headline, but I think it bears mention here because we're all about the money, money, money, and especially cash money. That we are. So imagine you're a subcontractor for a welding company. Do I get away one of those cool metal face cards?

Of course. And the welding company hasn't paid you for a job, so you sue. You come to an agreement by mediation and the welding company agrees to pay. But the judge doesn't specify how you should get paid. Bank transfer, cashier's check, crypto barter? And several weeks later, a forklift appears in the middle of the night with a huge stash of coins. And I mean huge. $23,500 worth of huge. $23,500 worth of coins? That's right. They just left them there. Not in pretty coin rolls, just a giant container full of loose change. So the subcontractor went back to the judge and said something to the effect of, dude, this is not cool. And the judge said, dude, you have a good point. Something like that. Ultimately, the judge said, dude, you have to remove the coins and pay like normal people. And you now also have to pay for the time we've all had to spend on this.

So the moral of the story is cash is not always king, at least not in nickels and pennies. Or even quarters. Also, don't be a jerk. Always solid advice. That's what we saw and heard about over the past week in Money News. Let us know what we missed and send us the headlines you've seen and want to hear more about. We're particularly interested if you've seen something curious in your local news that might be worth us taking a look at and sharing with listeners.

And that's it for this week's money news. We always welcome your money questions and comments. Turn to the nerds and call or text us your questions at 901-730-6373. That's 901-730-NERD. Or send us a voice memo at podcast at nerdwallet.com. And remember to follow, rate, and review us wherever you're getting this podcast. Today's episode was produced by Tess Vigeland and edited by Rick Vanderkenythe. Kevin Tidmarsh mixed our audio. Here's our brief disclaimer. We are not financial or investment advisors.

This nerdy info is provided for general educational and entertainment purposes and may not apply to your specific circumstances. And with that said, until next time, turn to the nerds.