NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast - Watch the Nerds Sweat It Out: Hot Wings Meet Hot Money Takes (Video Episode)

Episode Date: October 6, 2025

In this special video episode, Sean and Elizabeth and special guests eat spicy wings and share hot takes on saving versus investing, inflation, crypto, and when to trade up for an electric vehicle. When should you prioritize investing over traditional savings? How do you know when to keep repairing your car versus trading it in for something new, like an EV? Hosts Sean Pyles and Elizabeth Ayoola share their zestiest financial takes over hot wings, blending financial insights with fiery fun. NerdWallet YouTube creator Stephen Smith joins them in-person at NerdWallet HQ in Scottsdale, AZ, for a lively discussion which, like the hot sauce, gets eye-wateringly spicy. They debate whether saving in a checking account makes sense, how high-yield savings stack up against inflation, and whether the U.S. dollar could one day be backed by cryptocurrency. They also dig into why consumer debt is so easy to rack up, including the rise of Buy Now, Pay Later for everyday purchases. Then, listener Sandra joins the in-person conversation with Sean and Elizabeth as they discuss whether she should keep repairing her Acura or buy a new EV. They explore repair costs versus new car payments, the impact of high-yield savings rates, trade-in timing, and refinancing considerations. The episode wraps with practical insights on how to balance financial security with lifestyle goals like travel, education savings, and staying debt-free. Get matched with a financial planner for free using NerdWallet Advisors Match: https://nerdwalletadvisors.com/match  Smart Money is a finalist for TWO Signal Awards! Please take a moment to vote for us here: https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2025/individual-episodes/genre/money-finance  https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2025/shows/genre/money-finance  Want us to review your budget? Fill out this form — completely anonymously if you want — and we might feature your budget in a future segment! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScK53yAufsc4v5UpghhVfxtk2MoyooHzlSIRBnRxUPl3hKBig/viewform?usp=header In their conversation, the Nerds discuss: Bitcoin reserve currency, dollar backed by crypto, consumer debt in America, Buy Now Pay Later pros and cons, Klarna food delivery, Klarna at Chipotle, financing gas with BNPL, credit card debt cycle, checking account interest rates, financial literacy for kids, trust fund for children, custodial accounts for kids, Acura MDX, car repair costs, car repair vs new car cost, average car payment 2025, EV tariffs 2025, zero APR car financing, mortgage refinance break-even, 529 vs Roth IRA rollover, saving for college vs high-yield savings, passing down a car to kids, luxury vehicle maintenance costs, average miles per year US drivers, opportunity cost of buying a car, travel vs new car decision, and financial security vs lifestyle goals.. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, smart money listeners. We've got some exciting news. Smart Money is nominated for two Signal Podcast Awards. We would love to win them, but we need your help to do so. That's right. These awards are basically a popularity contest, so we need you, yes, you, to vote for us. You can find a link to vote in the description of this podcast episode. You should know that voting closes on Tuesday, October the 9th, put it in your calendar, and hop to it. And thank you for your support, as always. I do not believe that there's a such thing as saving. Expand. Is a myth. Yeah, say more.

Don't say Elizabeth told you to go spend all your money. I'm not telling you to go and spend all your money at them all today. Or maybe I did just say that. Maybe it's the hot sauce talking. I don't know. And I think it might actually be the thing that can solve our issues with inflation. Ooh. There we go. On smart money, we love to give you our spicy financial takes. And today we're getting it extra hot. We're doing our very first. round of our hot takes and hot wings i'm your host sean piles joined with my co-host elizabeth aola

and we have stephen smith a youtube creator for nerd wallet so we're going to have some hot wings here and give you our takes about all things money and hopefully we don't sweat too much let's do it all right and thank you guys for having me definitely going to start this off and we'll be starting with the green jalapeno sauce and that's going to be our number one okay let's take me look at yes i have celery because I'm not a chicken eater at the moment. So let's see how hot sauce and celery goes. A nice amount on this one. Oh, yeah.

So is number one? So are we, are we making this fair? Do we have to pour the same amount of sauce on each chicken? No, I think you can. DIY. Yeah. Okay. Let me just actually roll it.

Here, go for it. We can make sure we have a really good amount. Okay. What are you getting notes of? Definitely a lot of jalapino. Do you that? Oh, here you go, Sean. It is very mild.

Okay. I will say that. So I'm going to go light with this take. I do not believe that there's a such thing as saving money. I think saving money is a myth. Yeah, say more. Well, with the rate of inflation right now, it is impossible for you to save money long term because it's being printed faster than you can make it. So if you were to just keep saving, saving, saving, saving, eventually you would say,

save yourself into oblivion. At some point, you have to invest and make more money than what the rate of inflation is. That's why we often encourage folks to use high-old savings accounts, because right now the yield is better than that of the rate of inflation. So that is one way to say how to inflation. Although, of course, investing is most folks' best way to say out of inflation. So are you saying then that you feel like specifically saving and a checking account doesn't exist? That's a horrible idea. Because for a checking, you'll get what, zero point zero zero zero one percent and at the rate of inflation long term it's closer to like eight percent so even with a high yield savings account what what is it like four point nine so we're lucky to get

a four percent but i mean right now the rate of inflation is like a little over two percent so if you have a high old savings account that's around four percent you are staying ahead if you're using that historically though like for example if you work a nine to five job you can look at the data as far as how much things cost compared to the salaries. And no matter how you look at it, it's unproportionation. You're right that. You can't keep that yeah. Inflation is outpacing wage growth and it has for many years at this point. So things are tough. Okay. Well, let's get this thing moving along. We got a second sauce here. So what are we thinking? If we have to rank this sauce, I give it a minus zero. Minos zero. Yeah. It tastes

really good. I don't want to knock this hot sauce because it's a local. No, it tastes yummy, but not so Shout out to old Pueblo Poblano Mexican sauces. Thank you for your authentic green jalapeno sauce. This is now a commercial for hot sauce. They got a plug, yes. Stephen, can you pass the second one? Absolutely. We have, we're talking serious bone-sucking wing sauce, honey and habanero.

Not going on a bone for me, going on even more celery. Okay. It's kind of thick like barbecue sauce. Is this your first time doing celery and hot sauce? it actually is because usually you have celery to counter like the hot wings or whatever you're having so basically you're cheating um I just don't want to eat chicken it's kind of gross to me no offense no I respect that okay are you going to put it on the side yeah I'm doing a little fancy dip over here you know okay okay all right here you go thank you okay I'm getting the honey I'm getting the habanero the habanero is kind of building there's some actual heat to this okay I like it I love a good barbecue sauce so it yeah Yeah. Any sweat, I'm beginning to sweat a little bit. A little bit.

But this is totally, like, edible. I would eat this with, like, a veggie chicken nugget if I had them. Now, that got some spice. Okay. Wow. And my hot take for a slightly hotter sauce. It's going to be most people struggle with what they want in life because they view money as something that happens to them versus something that they have control over. versus something that they can take agency over and direct.

A lot of folks just view their paycheck is what kind of is bestowed upon them. And they don't really have a lot of intentionality about where it's going. And that's a huge mistake long term in terms of what you want from your life. I agree. But I feel like most people don't know because nobody's teaching them, you know. That's what we're here for? I know. That's what we're here for?

But I think the basic is, what do you want out of your life? That's where you start. And then your money is a tool to accomplish that. People don't think about it in that way. They think money is just what's covering my rent this week or covering the groceries, is not something that you can actually enact in a greater way. But the problem is, though, when you're trying to work for money, when do you actually have the time to think about how do I actually make more

or how do I grow this money? You're just trying to survive. Yes. So it's kind of a hard thing to think about when this is all that you know. You've been taught to be a consumer, not an investor. Mm-hmm. I've got to blame capitalism for that. Capitalism, we're talking you.

So here we have the mango habanero hot sauce by heartbreaking dawn. It's very creative name. All right. So while I'm pouring a little sauce, my hot take is that every child should be born with a custodian account with a certain amount of money in it. And they should not be allowed to withdraw that money until they take a financial education course. That's my hot take.

That would be a nice little safety net. It would be. And it kind of reminds me of the Trump accounts that were announced for people. I didn't want to say that, but... Yes, but it's only for a very limited amount of time. It's $1,000, and it's essentially, like, a retirement account for kids that are born within, like, a year or so. But there aren't parameters... Excuse me.

Spicy? I'm sorry. I don't want to interrupt your digesting a little. Just ignore me. No, I agree with you. I think that people aren't given a lot of financial education. We all know that we talk about it a lot because we didn't have that growing up. But what are your views on a trust?

Oh, there you guys see them. Oh, thank you so much. I personally have a trust for my son. I do not believe children or young people whose brains are not fully developed can handle large amounts of money unless they got that financial education from when they were younger and just have really good impulse control. So I like the idea of you being able to determine the terms of when and how they receive that money. And I know that if I received an inheritance at the age of 20, it'd be all gone now. But if I received it now, now that I'm working and I have the education that I have, I know exactly what I would do with it.

You've got that fully developed prefrontal cortex that kicks in when you're around 25. That's right. There you go. Now, what happens if they were able to pass your financial literacy course, but they just go ahead and blow the money? Then that's on them. We can't blame the government. It's not the government's fault. It's not capitalism fault anymore.

that's on you, right? Because you got the education, you got the funds, and you still chose to blow it, so. All right. How's that sauce, Elizabeth? This is a trickster. You were coughing earlier, so it seems like, but you're kind of liking it. You're eating a lot of chicken. Yeah, it's heating up. But I'm Nigerian. We eat real spicy food, so I don't know if y'all are going to beat me. I think two was spicier than three. I was going to say the same thing. Yeah, I think he might switch them. Yeah. It's really good. To me, this seems like a good everyday kind of sauce. Yeah. Yeah. I could have it on like eggs in the morning, on tacos, pretty versatile. All right, round four. Stephen kick us off. What's the sauce?

Round four, we have Lucifer's Last Blast. Okay. Lucifer has a, if you can see that, he has a fireball part. So, I mean, I'm assuming that this is something diarrhea-related. That kind of blast. Got it. Yeah, no, I'm liking this. I think this is going to be the one. That's going to break a sweat. Let's see. I'm sweating currently. I also need to take off my sweater. Why am I very? Good idea. Oh, and it's taking a while to, yeah. This might. It's thick for a blast.

Oh, okay. Oh, it blasted. Let's see. It blasted. Not this hot take, right? Yeah, we want you sweating. This one is good. Spicy?

This is the one. Okay. Well, not really spicy, but it is good. Okay. Not spicy? What do you mean? Not yet. It has like a little tingle.

I'm wondering if this is the kind of hot sauce that builds up over time, and then in a minute you're going to be really sweating and regretting. me said it wasn't spicy. I don't know. This ain't Lucifer. It ain't as hot as they said, but we'll see. For the hot take. Yeah. I believe in the next, let's say I'll do 15 years.

Our, if the dollar is still present, I believe it's going to be backed by cryptocurrency. To tell. Why do you think this? We already have some plans in effect to make it a reserve. have a Bitcoin reserve and then I think that if you look at a inverted chart right and you look at

real estate versus let's say something like a Bitcoin you can see that right now it takes way more dollars to purchase real estate but it takes less Bitcoin to purchase real estate so I would just say that it's an asset that is getting really really huge right now and I think it might actually be the thing that can solve our issues with inflation oh this is a tricky for smart We need a call an economist. This is one that's... We're conservative when it comes to crypto. I know.

I know. I watched. Speaking with our producer who was saying that, they were speaking with an economist saying that they predict crypto to... There we go. You tried the househouse. I knew this will be the one. I think that kind of sums it up. That's going to happen to crypto. That's what's going to happen.

According to many economists, mispidictions. Like you said. You know, Wow. Okay. Okay. I just had my first bite of this. So the celery is certainly making everything a lot sweeter, but the physical effects of this, like, burning in the back of my throat are really kicking them. I got you.

You didn't get any of that? I'm from New Orleans. So this is just ketchup to you, basically. I've been eating crawfish my whole life I'm solid Elizabeth your eyes are watering I'm scared of you

no reaction Yeah you were completely unfazed by this deal I went to Vegas and tried every single hot chicken place that they put in front of you ghost pepper

whatever it wasn't enough so what do you do I'm concerned I don't know is your digestive system okay Do you take a fiber supplement?

You know what's crazy, though? I will probably still have the Lucifer later. But right now... It hurts. Have some more. I want to see how much you can have. Can we have another wing with the Lucifer? I'll save it for the last one.

And then after we're done, I'll probably put some on the side. This is because the third one's probably my favorite. I think I need some more milk. Elizabeth, can you grab... We got some milk right out of frame. You're singing a little soft. song over there. Out, out, out. Do your lips, do the thing.

I can't talk right now. Just speaking through breaths and whispers. Elizabeth's gone nonverbal over here. I also live in Vegas, too. Yeah. It's hot. It's hot. I don't get how people can live in places like that, the temperature. I say as we're in Scottsdale. It's too hot. I wear sunscreen, and I'm black.

so you can imagine that how hot them was eaten yeah I'm choking on milk yeah so you're taking precautions you're saying that you're not impervious to all heat the heat from the sun is you don't mess with that but from hot sauce you're you're not phased hot sauce no no can I get my apple juice please I have some apple juice around here thank you Hillary the Hillary Georgia we shout out And the credits, just passed me some apple juice. Thank you. Thank you. You want to sit?

This is really helping. It's sweet. Yeah, down that wing. There you go. Elizabeth is lightly shaking. Okay. Is it my time? I think it's your turn.

You know, do you want the honors of doing the spiciest one? What? it's my turn in that case oh thank you shy our other producer shy brought us some dry bagels we were laughing at these bagels earlier you said only a baby needs a bagel wow we're the babies now there's something reviving about the sauce it just it's exhilarating goes through your whole system yeah okay what's your hot take shone i haven't even gotten to the hot sauce yet can you pass it oh i did all that you didn't have it yet no oh my god what's the name of that one this one this one It has a Reaper chili, which I think is the hottest pepper, if not, it's one of the hottest

peppers, if not the hottest. The hottest. The hottest, okay. Well, 2.2 million on Scoville, my producer tells me. And so, Stephen, I kind of want you to kick this off, but it's my turn to do it. This is the final sauce of the five, and we'll see how it goes. I think because this is the last one, we got to all share our spiciest take. And Elizabeth, you know, I wish you the best.

Here you go, Stephen. You don't mean it. I do. I sincerely, you know, I look out for you. I let Elizabeth borrow my cardigan earlier because I'm so selfless. That was so sweet. Oh, I'm not worried. It's fine.

Everyone in the background is saying too much sauce on this. And I say, we're fine. Okay. So I kind of wait I want us all to have it at the same time Oh wait, Stephen just chomped right in it Well you need twice as much as us just to get to the baseline I'm sorry

You're good, you're good It is good though It is good I continue to be really concerned No I think you guys would really like this one I think the last one was spicier Honestly Ready Elizabeth?

Three two one Right That's milder I deserve it. I almost died. Okay, it's starting sweet. Wait? It's getting a little sexier.

Yeah. I like it. Let's see. That one actually... Okay, it might be my favorite. I think that one that is the best one. You know, I'm still liking the mango one the most. But this one, but this is,

one, I was kind of expecting to be, like, you thought it was going to do. Yeah, I was expecting this to really hurt. Are your feet supposed to start tingling? That's how you know it was good. I think no. Okay. Okay. I'm going to give my hot take. And it's also a structural one, like you, like, you had earlier, Elizabeth, and it's that it's entirely too easy to get into consumer debt in this country. Everywhere you go, you have debt options thrown at you. In fact, people who file for bankruptcy, right after they file for bankruptcy, they are given loads and loads of credit card offers because the credit card companies know that they can't file a bankruptcy for another seven to 10 years. And that puts people into a lot of debt.

We're encouraged to use Klarna at Chapulte nowadays. It's just ridiculous. And I think it makes it too accessible. What? Who do you use Klarna at Chipotle? I don't use Charna, period. But you can use Buy Now Pay Later for food delivery. Buy now, fly later.

Oh, wow. Yes. And I think we just accept it as a given in how we manage our finances in this country. And it's pretty twisted and puts people in a lot of serious problems and they can't get out of this debt. I think it's a problem when you use that for gas. I've seen that too now, where it's like you have to finance your gas. Yeah. That goes back to what you were saying earlier about income not keeping a pace with the cost of living.

Yes, that is a school. Elizabeth, you seem like you have some thoughts over there. Well, I mean, in a previous episode, I did say, I said, what I said, Sean? You said that buy and out pay later can be a good tool for budgeting. Yeah. And you got some heat for that from listeners. I did get some real heat. And there's heat in my mouth right now.

And I still do think that buy now pay later could be a useful tool for people who has self-control. And for people who pay their payments in four. I don't know about Chipotle. But if you're struggling with your grocery bill or you have a big bill and you don't want to get charged interest on your credit card. And you know that you can responsibly plan in four and FYI. give me a second FYI as it will be including credit scores come fall

I think that's very soon so for people this could be a tool that they can use and I know I'm probably going to get more hate mail that's all right in you know in order to boost their credit score however I'm only saying this hot take for people who have a handle on budgeting

and are not prone to impulse spending I don't think you should rely on it but it's a tool that you can use. We've talked about how debt is just a tool but it's so accessible that it's easy for a lot of people to get in over their heads and then spend years and years and years paying off this debt, oftentimes for things that they may just need to get by, like gas. Oh, my mouth is burning.

And it's not right. And we shouldn't live with that, but we have to. I'm going to challenge you all to one more hot take. Yeah. Like if you had allergies, this is what you would need. Yeah. I'm going to challenge you all to one more hot take. Can you take it?

Give us what you got. I think. Well, no. No, that's not how it's going. Get you another celery. Get you another chicken. You thought she wasn't going to take some more sauce? So, since, for me, this was the spiciest one, Lucifer's last blad of wit.

I can't talk. A little bit of Rieper sauce. This is going to be the finale, okay? All right. I'm shaking a little, guys. I see your hands shaking, Elizabeth. Don't drop that bottle. I don't want a stain in your white sneaks.

Fakes. Always looking out coats. I know. Which one did you think was. the spices, Steven? Definitely this one. This one was definitely the spiciest. You've yet to break a sweat. Your hands seem pretty stable. You're stronger than us. We have to say it. We have to acknowledge it. No, this is just training from youth. Okay. All right, everyone. Final bites. Okay.

Lucifer is in the building. I will note that Elizabeth is doing this completely of her own free will. She's not being coerced into doing this. Living life on the edge. You're a thrill seeker. You're an adrenaline junkie. We all know this. I might work with this later.

Okay. It'll be a good hot take. My final hot take is I think people should blow up their budget at least once in their life, especially people who are penny pinchers. Spend a dollar, okay, or spend a hundred or spend a little more. So I'm not saying spend your way into poverty or a deep hole, but I do think that we need to remember that money is there to be spent.

And also, our relationship with our finance is ebbs and flows. Sometimes we're doing everything perfectly. Sometimes we're not, right? Also, our budgets are very tied to seasons that we're in in life sometimes and how we spend our money. And sometimes you're going through a hard time and you overspend. But that doesn't need to be the end of the road. So spend a little money.

Don't say Elizabeth told you to go spend all your money. I'm not telling you to go and spend all your money at them all today. Maybe I did just say that. Maybe it's the hot sauce talking. I don't know. Blow up your budget like you're blowing up your digestive system with this hot sauce. Oh, I got it. I got it.

Set a budget for blowing up your budget. That's the hot sauce. Yeah. Responsibly irresponsible. Yeah. I like that. Stephen, do you want to give us another? Do you have anything else?

Let me see. Oh. Well, this is probably not really a hot take, but I think that money is a construct. It's not real. The only thing that has value is labor. People are valuable. And that's it. I really think that it's the most feticious thing, and it's just made up, and we all just

are agreeing to the same lie. It's made up, but yet we still got to pay that rent, don't we? Oh, dear. Did you know that credit actually existed before? money did. Yes. Before we had dollars or whatever it was called back in Mesopotamia, we just had a credit system.

And that's all it was built on is kind of trust with each other and also a tally system. Oh, my, this hurts. Well, thank you guys so much. This has been really quite a physical and mental experience, a test of our endurances in many capacities. And I think Elizabeth and I were going to have to go for a walk and get something to calm us down. I don't know if I'm making it. I don't know. Stephen, thank you for joining us on this. Your first time on the podcast, I'm sure we'll have you back. I do want to say that our opinions today

are just our own personal opinions and are not a reflection of house views of the company, Nerg Wallet, Inc. So do not take them as such. We're back and answering your money questions to help you make smarter financial decisions. This episode, we're coming to you from a studio in Scottsdale, Arizona, where we're joined by a listener, Sandra, who has some questions about whether she should keep repairing her car or get a new one. Sandra, welcome to smart money. Thank you. It's great to be here.

So talk with us first about Scottsdale. I've never been here before. Now there is Elizabeth. What's your favorite thing to do or what's something that is beautiful in Scottsdale folks might not be aware of? Yeah. Well, Scottsdale is known for, I think, a couple of things. So hiking and golf.

Okay, yes, that tracks. Not golf. Okay, got it. Do you have any favorite hikes that you recommend? Um, everybody's pretty familiar with Camelback. So that is a good one. But be aware that, um, it can tend to be a little traffic key. Okay. So there is that and a bit more difficult as well. But it is very much fun. Cool. Well, let's dive into your questions. I want to hear about your car a little bit. What kind of car do you have and why are you thinking of getting rid of it? Yeah. So I have an Accura MDX. I have had the car for about nine years now. And it has a little over 92,000 miles. on it. And it's overall in great shape. However, I did just take it for an oil or an oil change. And they did tell me that there's about $2,700 of repairs that I need to do. Okay. That aren't things that are necessarily wrong, but are things that based off of the mileage, I need to look into

fixing. Oh, I've been there. I recently have that happen with my car issues as well. So is that the main driver for you wanting to change your car or thinking about it? Well, it's that as well as knowing that the next car that I would like to get is an EV. So the house that I just got in January does have solar and it's working very well for me. So I know that by utilizing that I'd be able to save on gas. Okay. So you're thinking maybe of making some quick moves and getting an electric vehicle. Is that right? Okay. Yes. Yes. But I'm also unsure when I think about opportunity costs based off of the looming tariffs that will at some point start to also impact the cost of a vehicle. But knowing that I am putting my savings into

a high-yield savings account right now, so which one is better to continue to save until I have enough money to just pay for it in cash? Or based off of the current situation, thinking about the the cost of the new car, but then outweighing what the current trade in value is. How do I figure out what that perfect point in time is for me to get the new vehicle? Well, I love to hear that you have a high-old savings account. As you know, we're big fans of those on smart money. There are a few different rules of thumb that people consider when they're debating whether to trade in the car that needs maintenance or keep repairing it.

And one is whether your repair costs are greater than the value of your car. So effectively, your car is totaled. Another one is whether your repair cost would cost more than the monthly payment on a new car. And that might be kind of hard to hit because the average car payment for a new car in July of 2025 was just under $750. So you have a few thousand dollars of maintenance. A few months of a car payment would well surpass that. But you also, I mean, you might be a person who just likes having a new car. Is that you?

Do you like trading in cars every so often? I don't. This is probably the longest that I've had a car. I do have my eyes out, though, for all the additional safety features that come with new cars, especially when I think about the EVs. And then what have kind of been, I'm curious to know your patterns, because I was going to ask you that earlier, in terms of if you're the type of person who likes to drive a car into the ground. So what made you shift to keep in this car for nine years and how long have you kept your previous cars for? My previous car was a coup. So it was two doors and I was pregnant with my first daughter. So I did not want to manage putting the car seat in. Yeah, not very practical. Not practical at all. So therefore, I got this vehicle as an SUV to be with me longer term. So it has treated me really well. I have not had a lot of car maintenance. But I did just put in January new tires on it. and there was an additional maintenance expense. So I've already spent about $2,500 this year. And an Accura, that's a luxury vehicle.

Do you have to put premium gas in your car? I do have to put premium gas. Yeah, correct. I have to put premium gas in my car. And I feel kind of like an idiot every time I do it because I have a luxury vehicle, but it makes the car last longer. So it's well worth the money. Just like any kind of repairs that you're going to be putting into your vehicle,

it'll make it last that much longer. In doing some research into an Accura MDX ahead of this conversation, I saw that they actually have lower repair cost than other cars in that category. So you have a great ride there. And they can last quite a long time. So I did some sort of cost-benefit analysis numbers myself. So buckle up, no pun intended, because I have some things for you to think about here. So your car has like 92,000 miles on it, right?

It's about 10 years old is what I, you mentioned nine, but I was running with 10. And so you're putting about 9,200 miles in your car each year, which is actually less than the average, which is around like 12,000 a year. So that means your car could last you quite a long time. The average lifespan of an Accura MDX, according to some measures, is around 250,000 miles. That means it would take you 17 more years to actually hit that point. So you could have a good long life with this car, and then you could save however much monthly that you put toward a new car payment and put that into other financial goals like saving for

retirement or savings account for your kids' education. How have you thought about the financial goal, maybe buying a new car as it compares to other things you might want to do with this money? Yeah, I've definitely considered that because things that I'm saving for include for sure the kids, whether that be when they need a vehicle, which is not going to be thankfully for another eight years-ish. So that's when that would occur. And then also for their education, obviously, my savings, I do have enough in my savings. So that is not something that I'm concerned about. I have more than six months worth of expenses in my savings. So I feel like that's all really good.

The one thing that I'm also considering, though, as I determine shifts with how I spend my money, is that I did, like I mentioned, buy a house in January. So that interest rate, I was able to get around a six four. Okay. And I mean, not bad for January 2025. Yeah. So by talking with my mortgage broker, I'm currently able to think about refinancing closer to like a 5-5, if not less. You must have a good credit score. I do have a good credit score. Congratulations. We're just all on track. We have our six-months emergency fund. We have the good credit score going like, well done. Thank you. Yeah. So I'm considering because I did refinance from, unfortunately, I had at like around a 2.2%. Oof. Yeah. That must have hurt to. lose. Yeah, I heard a lot. Yeah, I had refinanced the 2.2 back then and was able to maintain my mortgage payments to go to a 20 year. And so having 17 years left on that to go to now a 30 year

with the same payment, I'm definitely looking at do I pay a little bit more each month, have refinanced into about a 5.5-ish, and go to either a 20 or 15. Well, a rule of thumb that our mortgage nerds recommend is that if you can get about like three quarters of a percentage point off your mortgage with the APR, then it may be worth refinancing. It seems like you would be able to hit that. But it's also a matter of breaking even because you have a lot of costs that are associated with refinancing. So if you're going to stay in the house long term, that might be a smart move for you too. Do you have five to nines for your kids for college savings? I do. But I feel like that situation's a little complex. So that's why I've been now

putting more of my money into just a separate high-yield savings account for them. So- Say more about it being complex for you. Yeah. So with my situation, I'm divorced and we jointly put money into 529s for the kids. And he has continued to put some money as well. However, his mother has quite a bit of money. And she has shown that she is not shying away from spending on the kids. Okay.

And so what could happen is that she might decide to pay for, you know, a good amount of the kids. We don't know. And so because I know 529s, it kind of limits you in terms of how you're going to spend that money. I'm erring on the side of going a different route. Well, I have good news. I don't know if you heard that money inside of a 529 can be rolled into a raw for kids. I didn't know if you knew that that change has happened. Were you aware of that?

I was not aware of that. Yeah, because I was also on the fence about 529s because we don't know my child is seven where the world is going to be in 20 years, right? So I was like, well, what if he doesn't want to go to college or he takes a different route? But now, you know, there are limitations around it. Money can be put into a Roth for them so you can start saving for retirement for them. I also want to know, so say you buy a new car, it seems like you have expensive tastes, which I can relate to. What else could you do each month with $750? Well, I could travel.

That's a good goal. We haven't talked about that. Yeah, so that's not really a goal, but I do like to travel. But no, I would not be spending $750 a month towards travel. Have some nice trips. Very nice trips. I did want to pivot quickly because Sean did that awesome analysis, and you didn't give us feedback on what you thought about it. So what did you think about the cost analysis he did in terms of you?

I personally would not want to keep a car for 17 years, despite what I'm saving. but what were your thoughts on that? Yeah, I agree. I don't think that I would keep it for 17 years. What went on in the back of my mind is, is there, though, that opportunity of, again, not knowing what my ex is wanting to do to continue to drive it for that long? And then when my oldest, who in eight years will be able to drive, do I pass the vehicle along to her instead?

And do I wait that long and then buy myself the new vehicle? Yeah, that might be a smart move too, because the car by that point will still have some legs on it. And you probably don't want to give your kid a brand new car, right? This one will already be, this car is paid off, right? So you could think about putting the money that you would theoretically put toward a new car payment into a brokerage account or a high-old savings account specifically for this goal. Because your time horizon is eight years, that's beyond the five-year minimum that we recommend for people to invest. So you'd be able to weather the ups and down to the market, hopefully have this money grow a little bit. And then you could either potentially buy a car outright in cash,

put a huge chunk down and have a very minimal car payment. I like that idea. Yeah. In the meantime, though, maintenance is super important. Are you staying on top of these regular, like, mileage, milestones that you're hitting in terms of like spark plugs, tires, all of that stuff? Yes, I am. I was considering that if I don't go forward with buying a new vehicle right now, as I think

about that high amount of repairs, I would probably want to talk to the mechanics and understand And if this is something that I can kind of separate out and then do one right now, wait and do another in six months, how can I break this up a little bit? Because I really don't want to pull much from my savings. Yeah. And that's just because of the sort of emotional hit of it. It seems like you're making a decent amount. You could theoretically put enough toward a car payment.

But paying all of that out of pocket, $2,200 something dollars, just doesn't feel good. Is that what you're coming at it from? Exactly. I would say that I'm a bit more conservative. When it comes to money, I really want to feel financially secure. And that is the most important thing to me, which is probably why I'm not that person that likes to get new cars all the time, as well as why this is weighing so heavily on me right now. Yeah. I'll share that I have a car that is about as old as yours. It's a 2015, or I guess it's a 2016, but you know, they come out in 2015. I just rolled over 70-something thousand miles on it. I personally am planning on driving it into the ground, in part because it has a CD player, which I love a little bit of vintage charm. I have my CD collection in my car.

And I just don't like having a car payment. I just paid off my car in February. And the idea of going back to having some debt hanging over me doesn't feel great, especially because APR's four car loans have gone up as interest rates have stayed pretty elevated. So even if you have great credit, which you do, it seems, you're still going to be paying a decent amount of interest. and that's money you could be putting towards something else instead of paying interest. And I always find this conversation interesting because I was going to ask you how much does,

and I don't want to say social pressure, but sometimes we just want something new and shiny, right? And I think there's sometimes a lot of shame around that when there doesn't necessarily have to be if you can afford it. And it's not wrecking your finances. Money is there to bring you joy to, as I always say, right? So I guess you kind of answered that with saying that you're conservative, but I'm somewhere in the middle. I pay off my car loan next year. So my son asked me the other day, when are you getting a new car? And I was like, well, do you have $25,000 to buy me a new car?

If you're lucky, that would be a cheap car. I know, right? In this economy, exactly. That's how much I bought mine for, though. But similar to you guys, I think me being financially stable or just using that money for other things is more important than me having a new car at this time. So I will pay it off next year. And like, Sean, keep driving it until it can't drive anymore. Yeah.

And you have nine years until your son's going to be driving. Exactly. Oh, no, he's expensive. He says he wants a Tesla truck. So, yeah, that's what he wants. Good luck. Okay. How are you feeling about this sort of cost-benefit analysis currently?

Do you have any other questions around car buying that we haven't touched on yet? I think the only other thing that I think about is as I've looked into interest rates based off of my credit score and some things that are out there right now is that it does look like there is opportunity for me to have an interest rate on a car payment. that is lower than what I am able to get back from my high-yield savings. So how does that play into it? That would be nice if you could get that. What kind of interest rates are you seeing just out of curiosity? Well, there's some out there that's based off of the dealership where it's zero. Oh, okay.

And so it's basically a free car, free financing. Whereas others are closer to about a 2.5%. Again, these are like all through dealerships and I would want to look in terms of all of the different avenues to refinance before pulling the trigger. And so as I think about that, if I am able to get at a lower interest rate and knowing, you know, the future cost will be going up, is that still something based off of the analysis that I should hold on to and potentially give my car to my oldest daughter? If you can get zero APR financing on a car, that would be great. because for the best credit scores right now, we're seeing interest rates around 5% or above. So that's a tough call, too,

because we don't know where interest rates are going to be going. We don't exactly know where our car payments are going to be going, but we assume up, right? But you could still probably get a better return from your money by investing it over the long term or just holding on to that cash, because as you said, you're someone who likes to retain your liquidity

and you are conservative. So I think for me, I wouldn't want to see that money going out each month. just for a depreciating asset like a car payment. And yes, again, you want to get a good deal when you can, but just trying to guess and speculate about what you might have to pay in the future, it could be less. The car market could totally shift and we don't know where it's going. You could actually find a more affordable car in the future. So I wouldn't make any big decisions based on where you think it might go just because things are kind of trending one way currently when you do

have so much more time potentially with your car. But that's just me. And I tend to be conservative around debt payments. So. Also, you're in a good position. You have a great emergency fund. You have savings. You can afford a car if you want a new car. So I think you have a lot of good options. And that's a good place to start from.

So based on our conversation, where are you leaning towards Sandra? Where are you more leading toward? I think I'm leaning towards running it in the ground or passing it over to me. Oh, interesting. Because that's what I would do. I love that. I think that's a bad idea. And there's something that feels kind of no.

about that too where you're like, look, I'm saving money. I don't need to put money into this new shiny thing. As tempting as that is, and I'm sure your daughter would be able to get some good use out of it and, yeah, see where the market goes. And again, what else would you do with that money each month? Have those vacations. Exactly. Well, we would love to hear about if you do change your mind and get the shiny new car, please let us know. And we'd love to know how that works out financially for you as well. Well, thank you for coming on and talking with us, Sandra. Thank you, Sean and Elizabeth. If you enjoyed our conversation and you're interested in getting a financial strategy tailored specifically to your needs, then you may want to consider working with a financial planner.

You can get matched with a financial planner for free using Nerd Wallet Advisors Match. You can find a link to that in today's show notes. And that's all we have for this episode. Remember listener that we're here to answer your money questions. So turn to the nerds and call or text us your questions at 901-73033. That's 901-730 Nerd. You can send us an email to at Podcast at NerdWallet.com. Join us next time to hear about how to set your child up for financial success. And our brief disclaimer. We are not your financial or investment advisors.

This nerdy information is provided for general educational and entertainment purposes and it might not apply to your specific circumstances. This episode was produced by Tess Vigland and Anahil Hoski with help from Shy Ronan, Hillary Georgie helped with editing, Nick Kerosamy mixed or audio, and a big thank you to NerdWall's editors for all their help. Join us next time to hear about how to set your child up for financial success. Follow smart money on your favorite podcast app, including iHeartRadio, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. And until next time, turn to the nerds.