Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel - 10 Jaw-Dropping Money Stats About the Average American

Episode Date: April 9, 2026

💻 Shape what comes next for Smart Money Happy Hour by participating in our Spring 2026 audience study!  We’re not encouraging you to keep up with the Joneses, but have you ever wondered what their finances are actually like? Today, we’re unpacking jaw-dropping money stats that’ll make you reevaluate your own money situation. Next Steps: 🎙️ Catch our episode Weird Money Habits That Will Make You Rich. 🍸 Follow Smart Money Happy Hour on TikTok: @smartmoneyhappyhour 📱 Submit a Guilty As Charged question for Rachel and George! Leave us a voicemail with your question at 877-306-1517 or send a DM to @rachelcruze or @georgekamel on Instagram! Be sure to type “GUILTY?” at the top of your message so we don’t miss it.  💵 Create a free budget and find more margin with EveryDollar.   Connect With Our Sponsors: Check out the FAIRWINDS Credit Union exclusive account bundle. Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe. Get 20% off with code SMARTMONEY at Cozy Earth.   Today’s Happy Hour Special: 🍹 Tequila Aperol Spritz     Recipe by Join Jules 1 cup tequila blanco  2 1/2 cups Aperol 1 bottle sparkling rosé 1 cup sparkling soda water   Instructions: Add all ingredients into a pitcher and mix together. Pour approximately 8 ounces of the mix into a glass filled with ice. Garnish with a strawberry, grapefruit wheel, edible flower, etc.    Explore More From Ramsey Network: 💡 The Rachel Cruze Show 💰George Kamel 🎙️ The Ramsey Show 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights  🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 🪑 Front Row Seat with Ken Coleman 📈 EntreLeadership   Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're not a fan of keeping up with the Joneses, but have you ever wondered how much debt they have? Well, today we're going to drop some jaw-dropping money stats that will hopefully make you feel better about your own finances. Jay Bramsey's daughter wouldn't be gambling, and I was like, that's me. The median age of first-time homebuyers is now 40 years old. No way. You work on commission? Big mistake. Hey guys, I'm Rachel Cruz. I'm George Camel.

And this is Smart Money Happy Hour. Cheers, George. That was a 90-10. I think we can all agree I really reached for that one. Oh, yeah. Oh. Wow. That's not what anyone expected.

Cough syrup, anyone? That's exactly what it's reminding me of. It tastes like cough syrup. I'm so sorry. I think it's great. You know, they used to put alcohol in cough syrup, so it tracks. This is a 1920s cough syrup. Dime a tap.

This is also. on the show we're two friends who happen to be money experts. Talk about what you're talking about. Everything from pop culture, current events, and money. George is terrible. I'm so sorry, the taste that is happening right now. If you're going to wait for Rachel's rating, I don't think you need to, guys.

Here's what we're sipping on. It is not cough syrup. It is, in fact, a tequila, apparel, spritz. God, that sounds so wonderful. Three things that you would think would go together. The sprits, the apparel, the tequila. It's all there. So we're going to find out where this went wrong at the end. We're going to give you our rating and reveal the cost per glass. Stick around.

I think it's actually kind of delightful. Okay, you're fine with that. You've never drank cough syrup for fun? I know, just for the heck of it. Just to feel something? Just have a little something. Pop a little day quill? You know what?

I did dayquil once in my life. That was like two years ago, and I came to work. I don't even know if we were filming my show. I don't know how it's street legal without an ID. It was bizarre. It was a bizarre experience, you know? Dayquil and an empty. stomach, that's a nice buzz.

Yeah, like, what? I'm just saying. All right. You're going to be feeling good. Rachel, it's April, one of your favorite months because it's the month you were born. That's true. Happy early birthday. Thank you.

And that means we're in the month where showers bring my flowers. That's right. Very excited about that. And we're in tax month, too. Also excited about that. I know. Because I got mine done. Yes, completed.

So did we. You get yours done? Feels good. You know, thank you, Winston, for all the work you put. 40 minutes with my tax pro. I was in and out and we were drinking marg's and that's right you went to a Mexican spot after yeah great wonderful but we got the spicy marg and the salsa was spicy so my wife's mouth was just on fire the whole time she couldn't taste anything it was just like I'm just you're done I enjoyed it again I

like to feel a little pain yeah just pain in life that's what George likes we go we got it done oh my gosh yeah well we're going to be talking about some crazy money stats in this episode why don't we kick it off with this can you guess with the average tax refund was. Refund? Yep. I bet the average was $1,8333. You are so wrong.

Oh, geez. 2025 IRS data. Yeah. Around $3,100. Good night. For the average tax refund. Wow. Pretty crazy.

$3,100. People are out there making bank. Yeah, they are. Or not paying too much taxes. Making bank, as in got a refund from the debt. Here's a great stat. People forget it's called a refund for a reason. 82% taxpayers who have a refund plan to pay off debt or increase savings.

Yay. My gosh. 82%. Now the keyword of there is planned. Planned. Will they? I hope so. I hope so.

If you've got some debt, you don't have savings, this should be your A1. Okay, I know we did ours because of April. Did you remember in 2025? Tennessee had a state of emergency because of all the flooding that was happening in East Tennessee and like the Carolines. And we didn't have to file to November. So Winston... Wait, what's the life hack here?

Winston Cruz loves that. So floods equals, you can kick your taxes down the road. I guess if it's a state of emergency, your tax... Yeah, the taxes get pushed. I don't know. And I don't know if the governor... I don't know who decides this. But yeah, and so we don't have to pay until November.

So Winston, because we usually end up owing. Like, I feel like we never get a refund. Same. If anything, we like, yeah, we owe. And so because that's the normal rhythm, Winston was like, well, hold on. We don't have to pay till November. So let's just keep our money in a high-yield savings

and earned 3% you know life hack yeah through the year and then a November will pay but we'll just earn money on the money we would have paid Washington you that's smart yeah I did that for two months because we we did it on Valentine's Day okay our taxes and he was like hey do you want to pay now I was like no I want to pay on April 15th and no earlier that's right that's right I did the math I was like I could make like $200 extra in my high-eal savings I could pay for this dinner and another dinner and I did for you know what that paid for the lunch that day see don't you love that That's boy math right there. I love it.

I did that recently, George, when we went to Vegas for the back street boys. That's right. For the second time. Yes. And by we, you mean a girl's trip. It was a girl's trip. Winston not invited. Winston did not go.

And it is like that kind of math, that girl math is my favorite because, and everyone knows this, this is a known thing. People get mad at me and I'm so sorry. But if I'm in Vegas, I love playing craps. Yep. And they go, Rachel's a degenerate gambler. Yep. And I love being, yeah, I love being the shooter.

You know, you're rolling those eyes. And actually, I got a little lady. Did I tell you the story already? You got a little lady? I don't remember this. No, a little lady came up to me. Sorry, I was mid-story, and then I thought, have I told you this? I don't remember this.

Yes, the sweet lady came up to me, older woman. She was like, yay, hi. She was like, are you Rachel? And I was like, I am. And she was like, my husband over there kept saying that was you and I told him, oh, Dave Ramsey's daughter wouldn't be gambling. And I was like, oh, my gosh. That's me.

That is amazing. And I said, don't tell my dad. She's like, I won't. That is so funny. Way to do the Lord's work at the craps day. Were they also gambling? But here's, no, they were walking through. Oh.

Probably good people. Like good Christians. Good people. I know. No, but all that's to say, my friend had never played. And so I roped her in and was like telling her what to do. And there's like a whole like superstition in Vegas of like beginner's luck, like the first role. And it was she rolled for, I mean, 20.

20 plus minutes, y'all. And we made so much money. And it paid. I only ended up out of pocket on that whole trip, except for airline tickets because I paid for those like months before. But hotel, everything, and not concert tickets either. This is getting worse. This isn't getting worse. But food hotel, I'll put that. Okay. I only out of pocket paid $72. Wow, because of your winnings. Because of my winnings, y'all. And I wasn't even like betting a ton, but you just kind of keep winning a little bit. Yeah. Well, and crap, they get a hot streak. It's just, just keeps adding up. I mean, it was crazy, George. So, good for you. Don't you love when life works out like that? You don't have to pay your tax bill

for two more months. You make $200. It feels good. Pay little craps in Vegas. Pay for your trip. It's kind of like found money. Yes. And it's the best. It's money that you didn't like work for, quote unquote. Right, right. It just happens. That's why I love investing and I look at compound interest. I'm like, I can't wait just to live off of that one day. Like I didn't work for most of that. Yeah. It just was working for me. That's going to be the wild part. I can't wait for that day where the money just shows up and like I didn't have to go to work for that. Yeah, I put in this much. That's truly the only passive income that exists in my book.

Oh my gosh. Are you so excited for that day? I am. Can't come soon enough. I'm going to be here until they fire me. Oh, George. As long as you'll do this show, Rachel, I have a job. So please never quit.

Never quit. Never will we quit. Well, let's get to some juicy stats. Yeah, there's some good money stats in here. We're not going to talk about taxes the whole time. No, I mean, as far as jaw-dropping shock and. I feel like a lot of people will, maybe their jaw won't be fully dropped. Okay.

There are some ones in here that make you question humanity. Uh-huh. Shall we start off with the average credit card balance by generation? That's a good start. You ready? So the lowest balance is Gen Z and the silent generation. Way to go, old people and young people. Done y'all?

The bookmark, the bookends. To be fair, the silent generation, are they all there? Are they even able to go into credit card debt at this stage? I mean, I'm sure they could. Okay. And Gen Z I have found is kind of spooked by credit cards and going to debt. Yep. So that average is 3,400. Okay. The highest is Gen X. Come on, yeah. You have 40 and 50-year-olds out there.

Approximately $9,600. That's high. And our mid-range is our millennials and our baby boomers. And they're anywhere from $6 to $7,000 in credit card debt. Wow. What do you think about that? Yeah, well, I've seen, because I've, I've, done a lot of videos around the money stats and Gen X does seem to be in the worst spot.

Because they're like helping their parents and have kids. Yeah. And I think they were raised up in a generation. It was like the first generation to truly just grab a hold of debt and go, well, it's normal. You got to have a payment. You got to build your score. I think that was the first generation that had to deal with that. And the millennials got a little bit wiser with it. Not great. We took on probably the most crippling student loan debt out there. And then baby boomers, I think are, they're in a better spot financially where they did have a good, you know, economic rise there for a while.

But it's still kind of sad to see. Everyone's got thousands of dollars. I know. Credit cards, I know. And that's... If you have credit card debt. Yep. And that's the average.

And a lot of people, again, get credit cards. Like, well, I'll pay it off every month. But we do see time and time again. That just doesn't happen. And how high the interest rate is with credit cards. It just keeps rolling to the next month. And even to keep up with minimal payments with the high interest rates.

Like, it's just, it's a lot. It's what drives me crazy about a lot of financial experts out there. They go, well, just pay it off. Be responsible. I'm like, well, if it was so easy. Everyone would. There wouldn't be this. It wasn't for the fall of man and Genesis.

Maybe this plan could have worked. But here we are, 1.2 trillion dollars in credit card debt, and we are $0 in debit card debt. So I'm sticking to my debit card. That's the math. I didn't have to look up that stat. That's good.

I like that. All right. Next, jaw-dropping stat. 26% of Americans have purchased cosmetic procedures for themselves. Okay. 19% of these were dental-related. So celebrity veneers really, they've gotten out of control, George. Is that the big one?

Are celebrities getting the veneers, or can you get veneers that look like a celebrity's teeth? All the above. I feel like celebrities are doing the veneers. I feel like that's like a thing. Yeah. You see like the perfect teeth. Who do you think of when you think good teeth in Hollywood? Hmm.

You know, I just thought of, and I don't... Julia Roberts and hers aren't veneers. That's a classic smile from like... Oh, really? All natural. Yeah. I mean, I think. I don't know her, but she's had that smile

since pretty woman days. I mean, she's just, you know what I mean? You know who I thought of? Maybe because she's in court, but, like, Lively. I think, she's a really beautiful smile. Margot Robbie, I think, has a beautiful smile. Okay, I'm picturing it now. Yeah.

I mean, Barbie. She was in Barbie. I know, and I'm pretty sure they have all veneers. Yeah. I feel like if you have like, I think. I feel like veneers used to be for old people. Yeah, no, they're going. The young, the youngs have co-opted. And you know, it was like really a hot thing.

And then I feel like people are going back to natural. I don't know. But the thing with veneers, you know they have to like shave your teeth into like little pointy like things. Oh, and then they like put something on it? Yes, George. It's not. It's like your teeth are forever gone. Are you under for that?

Because I wouldn't want to know that's happening. Because there's probably like a drill. Oh, I'm sure there is. That's like hot. That sound. Can't do it. I'm out on that. I know.

Wow. Well, all these procedures, that's one out of four Americans. Yes. Have purchased a cosmetic procedure, which is obviously an elective thing. It's not necessary. I wonder what's considered, do you think Botox? Is that considered a procedure? Fillers, Botox, all of that.

All of that. I believe it. And only a fourth. So you think about the human population, I don't know what the stats are, half men, half women. I do wonder if it's more women than men. So then I wonder if it's like half of women in the United States gets that would be wild. But dudes get Botox and stuff, you know? Yeah.

Not a lot. I mean, not me. Not natural. You can tell my face is melting. Will you color your hair, George, when you start getting grayes or do you like the pepper, the salt and pepper? I'm hoping for that Steve Correll look, Jeff Goldblum. That's kind of what I'm aiming for. Yeah.

That's aspirational. Okay. I don't think it's realistic. Okay. But I think men tend to age into like, what a silver fox he is. He's so handsome. 100% And women society tends to go like, oh gosh.

Yeah, look at the grace. This is what happened. And then they go, women should just age naturally. And like, well, when they did, you were mad. You didn't like them. Thank you, George. I'm just in support of the women here. Way to help us out there.

But I don't know a lot about cosmetic procedures, but it scares me because it can go wrong. And we don't have the long-term effects on what all this is doing. What all this is doing is true. But I think our society has gotten a little more vain. And they've just become easier. Like, anyone can go get a procedure and it's a few hundred bucks. That's the thing about today. You think about it.

You're like, okay, travel, particular, whatever it is, like things that our parents never would have had the accessibility to. It's just down the road. Yeah, you don't need to go to a plastic surgeon. There's like a little clinic down the street. Dase, what do they call it, spa? Dase balls. Med spa, thank you.

There was a party in my neighborhood at a neighbor's house where they were doing Botox. Yes, I hear about those. And I got invited, and I went. You went? I went to the party. I didn't do the Botox. You went to the party? Was it a bunch of women?

getting Botox? No, the guys were drinking some bourbon, so I was like, well, I'll go for that. Oh, and then the girls got the Botox? Yes. Okay. I don't want you to spill the tea about Whitney, if she did or not. She did not. She did not. Okay. She said no. Good for her. Above the influence, as they say. She is. Well done. All right, next stat. Hit me.

Half of U.S. adults worry daily about their personal finances. Probably half in credit card debt and getting cosmetic procedures. And I do think half are living paycheck to paycheck right now too so that makes sense that tracks it all adds up and i would worry too that's tough but that's a heartbreaking stat money stress is real like every day you wake up there's a little bit of financial anxiety yes underneath it all a hundred percent yep yeah there's some heartbreaking what do you think is the cause of that feeling what's the cause of the stress yeah just to worry

daily do you think it's like how am i going to pay my bills i think it's the paycheck to paycheck living if one thing bad happens we're doomed and that's like today it's basic survival, right? I mean, that money is what we have to survive today, where I feel like you go back hundreds of years and it was, can we find clean water? Do we have shelter? Can we hunt to eat?

Like, that was survival. Today, this is survival. And if you can't pay for things, I mean, that's hard. And if you have a family on top of that, right? And you're taking care of kids, you have responsible. Like, it's just, that's a heavy load to carry.

Yeah. So it is a lot of stress. Like if you're truly broke paycheck to pay, check, that is ultra-stressful. But even middle-class people who are carrying a bunch of payments that they can kind of afford maybe, but they know your body's kind of keeping score going, hey, we're not safe. We're not safe. If you lose this job, we're going to, we can't make these payments anymore. We've bought too much house. And so as you kind of cross the spectrum, from broke to people making hundreds of thousands of dollars, we get the call on the Ramsey show.

They're stressed. Yeah, they're making 130 and they have no savings. And you're like, We're making 300,000, and they're like, we have no money left at the end of the month. And I have to yell at them and say, America has no empathy for you. No one is that for you. But just know, this is a you problem. But the amount of people we call, I'm like, do you have any savings? And they're like, I have nothing. That's a common, yeah, that's common.

Which adds to the worry. So solutions here, get out of debt, stay out of debt, and have emergency savings. Those things alone will give you a sort of a baseline of peace. That's right. Absolutely, guys. and put systems in place that are for you and including where you bank. And that's why I love Fairwin's Credit Union because they are people that not only really do care about you. I mean, they've aligned with Ramsey values of their messaging, the celebration of wanting you to win financially is for you.

It's not for them. A lot of banks want more of your money. They sell you crappy products where they make so much money off of you. That's not Fair ones. Fair ones is there because they want your banking experience to be easy and enjoyable. and again, they want you to hit your money goals. So you can open up a smart bundle where you get the smart checking account

with the debt as normal B-Weir debit card. We love it. Got to use mine yesterday, a Trader Joe's. Real conversation starter, let me tell you. Can I tell you? My old debit card at our old bank, the chip didn't never work. I was always still a slide in or a swiper.

Now you can tap. The tapping, which I know is not big for a lot of people. It was big for me. So thank you, Fairwins. Thank you for the technology. But it is great. So Fairwins is where George. And I both bank, and they're fantastic.

So get that smart bundle, no fee checking, high-yield savings. Go to fairwinds.org slash Ramsey or click the link in the description. All right. What's the next jaw-dropping stat, George? This one does not shock me because we've taken many a call on the Ramsey show where someone's in this situation. 28% of car tradens have negative equity. Oh, that's the worst.

Think about that. More than a fourth of the cars that we see on the road are worth less than their outstanding loans. because they're usually rolling over from another car loan too. Yeah. That can happen. Then depreciation hits. And you got hosed at the dealership.

So you paid $40,000 out the door. And as soon as you drive away, the car's not worth $40,000. But that loan stays there and the interest is racking up. And as it decreases in value, and you go try to sell it and you've been paying more and more because of interest. And it's just that keeps doing this. And the negative equity is what's so sad to me. We'll talk to someone and they're like, yeah, I've got a, I don't know. a Ford Focus and I got $40,000 and we're like, wait, how? How is this possible? They're like,

well, I rolled over negative equity. And then you talked to him, we got this call. Remember this George? And the kid made $45,000 a year, but his car was for, and you just think, that's criminal. Whoever gave you that loan, like, it's horrible. So. And then the interest rates, I was talking to a guy the other day, he's paying 28% APR on his car. Oh my gosh, on a car? That's like a credit card. Exactly. $15,000 loan. Yeah. It's just brutal what's happening out there.

So when you're buying cars, you guys, not only do you need to use cash, but be smart. Like some people really do stumble on car lots and they get people, you know, the dealers like to help us. And all they say is what kind of payment you're looking for? Well, and they sit down, they got a board and they're drawn and they're here and this. And they move this number around. Like here, you want to, and you're like, yeah, I just need a car. I'll sign it. Then you've been there three hours and just like, get me out of here, whatever.

I'll sign when anything from front. I wonder if that's part of their system to keep you in there for longer. It's like a timeshare presentation. You're just like ready to get out of there. Like, all right, fine. I want to see my kids again, man. Pay cash for your car because you can't be underwater on a car that you fully own that doesn't have a loan attached to it. So depreciation can hit and you can still sleep well at night.

Be aware. All right. Next, people earning over $100,000 are more likely to use buy now, pay later. I'm shocked. What? Okay, this is a survey by Morgan Stanley. And yeah, and I think it's because apparently, people obviously in this kind of income bracket,

they have disposable income, and they're paying to kind of maintain credit and just keep that life afloat. Just keep up with my payments, and I'm good. Okay, that is an interesting stat, though. I'm kind of shocked by that. Yeah. Because I would have thought,

if you're having to break up those payments, you may not be able to afford it in total. But for them, it's just like they're, they may have the margin, but still it's just like a, hey, I can just do this. They'd rather kick the can down the road and the payments, add it to the tab. And we also know there's a lot of stats out there about how a lot of people making over six figures are paycheck to paycheck.

Yes, absolutely. But they still want the nice things. This is sort of the, I think, a terrible sweet spot for the middle class that are making six figures, but there's a lot of lifestyle creep. There's a lot of payments in their life. And so they really, they can't justify paying $200 now, but they can justify $50 now. Right. And $50 next week and the week after. $68.

here or there and it's yeah totally and it just that makes sense to me yes they're the most likely to try to keep up where someone making 40 grand is not trying to buy things they can't afford as much that's right that's right um okay next ooh this is a fun one citizens of hawaii are least likely to carry student loan debts that's interesting island life financial health and hawaii's very expensive to live in though yeah it's a very high cost of living and i don't know how many like colleges and universities are in Hawaii. What if Mia came to you and was like, Daddy, I want to go to Hawaii University. Would you let her go?

I would be heartbroken, but also not a bad place to visit my little girl. I mean, if it's what she wanted. Wait, seriously? You would say yes? I mean, at that point, they can kind of do what they want. Well, with your money? Maybe. I mean, I'm saving up.

I crunched the numbers this morning on her 529 to make sure we're on track. That's great. We're looking good. Do you have no, you have no bounds with calls? college. It's just like. Well, what I'm going to do is, yes, I'd like to have bounds. And Dave Ramsey did this with you guys. He said, I will pay for in state school. You're going to finish in four years. So I would love, I love that model of, hey, I will pay for college if you do it this way. Now, I want to say you will not go into debt. Yes. I hope that she's raised with that value.

I also know I can't control an 18 year old. At that point, legally, they can make their own terrible decisions. But you don't have to do a parent plus loan at that point. I would never do a parent plus loan. I'm going to say, here's the money we have. If you choose to go over that, just know that God is watching. God is watching. The borrower slave to the lender. Go read some proverbs. So, but yeah, Hawaii, you'd be like, yeah, girl. It wouldn't be my first choice. I'd want her close to home for obvious reasons, but I flew the coop at 20 and went from Boston to Alabama and never came back.

That's true. You did. That's true. So I feel bad for my parents in hindsight. Yeah. I was just talking to Whitney today. She was at a coffee shop, and behind her was a dad reconnecting with his daughter who's at college. Oh my gosh, make me cry. And she said it was so sweet but also so sad because she was picturing that being her and our son or daughter. I know, I know.

And you're just like, this is all the moments you have. The worst, and I was this woman in Wins's life, they marry someone that's not nearby. And then they move. Yep. And then you, that's sad. It's hard. Now, it worked out for the Ramsey family. Did Dave instilling you that, like, you will not move?

No. How did that work out that all the siblings live here? I mean, I was working here. Oh, that's true. Yeah. So maybe he wrote this in with that. If you work at Ramsey, you ain't going nowhere. Yeah, you ain't going nowhere.

There's no long-distance strobes here. Yep. Well, if you were to fly to Hawaii to visit Mia, you probably want to be cozy. So you probably should wear all your cozy earth items that you got, George. It's a long flight. And I bet they will still be around because they're that amazing of a company. Yeah, they're not going anywhere.

And I would be rocking the bamboo joggers the whole way to Hawaii. Yes, you would. Because that looks classy in an airport. Yeah, and then if you got first class and you guys are extra bougie, Whitney could change into her cozy earth pajamas while going. On the flight. Yeah. Like time to lay down in our bed.

Yes. At that point when me is that age, you will be in a lay down first class bed. My hot take is that air travel will get worse and worse over time. Don't say that. I don't think it's getting nicer. Cozy Earth will not, the quality will not be shaken. Amen.

Will not be shaken with rough times. But yeah, whether it's bedding, whether it's blankets. Athleisure. Athleisure. I mean, all of it, you guys, like the stuff is so great. the socks. We say it over and over again. I don't know why it's the socks for me. They're amazing. They are. Winston got pairs.

I got pairs. It's the little things in life, guys. So give the gift of everyday luxury. You can go to cozy earth.com slash smart money. Use code smart money at checkout and you'll get 20% off their luxury goods and you won't regret it. All right. Our next stat, Rachel, the median age of first-time homebuyers is now 40 years old. No way. That's halfway to 80 if you're doing the math. Man.

I mean, if you did a 30 year, you'd have paid off at 70. That is weird. If you stayed in the same house and didn't upgrade. Yep. Which a lot of people move. A lady called in the Ramsey show the other day, and she was like, well, we're going to live in this house forever. So it makes sense. She was trying to justify these super expensive renovations, like hundreds of thousands of dollars.

And they were like 42. I was like, you're guaranteeing. I said, call back when you're 97 and tell me that you're still in this home. I know. Yeah, I mean, the housing market, we've talked about it a lot. It is just more expensive these days, and it takes people longer to save up for what they want. And so that is a reality. But also life expectancy is going up.

That too, yeah. But I think that is one reason to get out of consumer debt, because if you do free up, two car payments, student loans, credit card debt, like all of that money added each month hundreds of thousands of dollars, right? That could be going towards saving up that much faster for a down payment. So you can make home ownership a priority by saying, I'm not going to take on this other debt. I want to really focus on something that's going to build equity and give me a better quality of life. That's right. Next, oh, I just read ahead and I like it, George.

I like what I see. I sound like Ken Coleman there. I like it. I like it a lot. I like it a lot. So as I can call me would say. 23% of couples have no shared bank accounts. That's lower than I was expecting.

So. That's the ones who are honest. Only a four. They probably have a shared, but they probably have their other accounts too. They don't bust my bubble. I love a unified checking account and that means 75% of couples do Okay

I'm reading that right right Well 77 if we're doing the math But yeah so majority of couples Have a shared checking account That seems so low to me I feel like the amount of hate I get on social media When I talk about this feels way more

Yeah people act like no one's doing this racial I feel like only 20% a couple share an account That's what it feels like out there But this gives me help George Yeah share an account you guys It is one of the best things that you can do from not just the money perspective, but for your marriage. And here's the hot take.

Don't have also your separate accounts that you both use on the side with like your own secret money. The way I do it, we have one joint checking and our joint high yield savings. Everything is together. She has access and can see it at any time. Yes. And because the whole like separate thing is because you don't want them to see it. Right? You don't want them to control your spending.

So why is that? Is it because they are too dominant? and controlling, which means they probably are doing that in other parts of your marriage, and or are you too passive and, you know, a little bit like, oh, well, I just, I just don't want them to see it because I don't want to have to deal with the feelings of what I have to feel. Like, great. It's all a level of sweeping under the rug. Like, that's why having everything out. I don't want to judge me. I don't want to judge him. Like, it's our business. Yep. Having everything out in the open, it creates unity. Like, you're getting married. You're married. That's part of it.

Make a budget. Use one account. Love that. All right. Next up. Americans have $4.5 trillion in cash earning little to no interest. So we're talking between checking accounts and these savings accounts making 0% interest. Ooh. That's a 2025 federal reserve data. That's legit and recent. So here's what they're missing out on. I like that people have that much cash, though, in general.

4.5 trillion. That's a lot. I guess we have to divide that by the number of Americans to get the real number. Oh, that's probably true. Quick math. Do your 73% math there, George. Put the matrix numbers behind me. I can't do that math.

I'm just kidding. $330 million carry the $1.000. Don't waste your time. Not worth it. It's fine. What it just means is it's a lot of cash sitting there earning no interest. So that is probably more than just an emergency fund, right? I mean, because we tell people not to invest when it comes to your emergency funds.

A lot of people are scared of investing, and so they just keep it parked. Yes. Especially I've found people who are a little bit older, they're a little more fearful of the market. And so they go, well, I'd just rather have it in a CD or keep it in savings. And I'm going, hey, you're missing out on potentially, you know, over 3% right now. A lot of money. With high-ield savings accounts. So make sure, oh, we mentioned Fairwind.

That's a great place to park it and that high-old savings to actually have your money grow, at least at the rate of inflation. That's right. Right now, inflation's eating that $4.5 trillion. Yes. Because your buying power goes down every day. So much, George. Well, I just feel like there's a lot of things happening in the world with our money. And so having a plan and knowing which you want to do.

And you're not following these stats. Some of these stats are encouraging, some are not. But to do what's best for you. And I know one thing that's best for me in the world today is getting my info off these crazy websites. Something you can control. Yeah, delete me, you guys, is a great subscription to have

because the team of real people go in to these websites that are like sketchy websites, data broker websites, and take your name off of them because those sites will sell your information to other companies. Which leads to fishing and identity theft and targeted fraud. That's right. and spans and scams and all of it. No thank you, ma'am.

Take your name off the list. Get it out of there and Delete Me helps you do that. That's right. And you can get a sweet discount, 20% off their annual plans. When you go to, join DeleteMe.com slash SmartMoney or click the link in the description. And that report is sadly something I look forward to. I know, the report. But you see the amount of hours that they work that you didn't have to do anything.

That's right. Yeah, you could try to do this all on your own, but goodness gracious, your time is worth more than that. These people are experts in this field. Yep. So make sure to sign up at join delete me.com slash smart money because it is well worth it, you guys. Well, well, how do you feel about the stats right now, George? What's your feeling?

It's not super inspiring. Is it? Yeah. But I will say this. Should we go to Hawaii? I want to go to Hawaii now. That was my big takeaway. Me too.

I need to go to Hawaii. I know. Sounds right. But here's the thing. I don't think people watching need to be a part of it. of the stat. So that's the encouraging part of just because 70% of the world or 50% of the world are doing things in an unwise way, taking on a bunch of debt, not saving the right way. This is good because it means you don't have to be a part of that stat. You can do things differently.

And that's why we post this show to show people a smarter way to handle their money. And it starts with smart money happy hour. We want you to be happy and be smart with your money. Yeah, so speaking of that, George, before we spill the tea on guiltiest charge, what do you rate it? What's the drink deets? Let me go back to my dime a tab here. At least it's not room temp. Yeah. Well, I didn't think that, but then you said it.

I'm so sorry. I have to go two out of ten. I'm so sad about it. All right, I'm going to go three out of ten. Okay. Because if you weren't here, I'd be sipping on this happily. You go, no, okay, it's interesting. I like all the ingredients separately.

Here's what's in it. Tequila? Aparel, Prosecco, and sparkling soda water. Which I think soda water is already sparkling, but they wrote sparkling soda water to remind us that soda is sparkly. And it comes out to $5.8. But hey, if you want to find out for yourself, if it's as bad as we say, three out of ten for me, two out of ten for Rachel. Collectively, a five out of ten. Still not great. That's not the average.

The average is two and a half. Two and five. Either way, it's bad so go get the recipe in the show notes give it a try this weekend if you dare but thank you to our team who made it

they're trying hey they've had a lot of great they've had a hot run for a while it's not their fault I feel like it's always personal when we give a drink rating they're doing the most alright now it's time for

guilty as charged and this is where we ask each other a guilty charge question every week and if we're guilty we take a sip all right I'm gonna ask it this time Rachel when is the last time you were enraged by a customer experience.

Oh, wow. I don't see you getting enraged much, especially in public. You tend to be the one who you hold it inside if you have any attention. Yeah. And I'm more like, I need everyone to be okay.

Yes. You don't want to cause a scene. That's why I'm curious. Have you ever actually been upset? No, I have. I know I've probably used the phrase, like, I'm trying to give you money. Like, why is this so difficult?

Like, I'm sure there has been moments like that. I don't know. I remember, ah, this is going way back. We're going six years. We're going COVID year. Are you ready for this story? This is what came to my mind.

I remember going to a spa, which we live in Tennessee, so like everything was open during this time. And they had me wear a mask during a massage, which made sense during the time we were living in, but they were doing facials with people without masks in the room next to me. People were getting facials. And I was like...

That's hypocritical, isn't it? Well, that didn't make any sense. It's not logical. And I pushed it. That's right. And so three different times is like, that doesn't make sense. Like, that doesn't make sense. How is someone literally right there getting a facial doesn't have COVID? You're not worried about them, but you are worried about like that makes, it make no...

So that was the only time I feel like I remember I just kept pressing and pressing. But other than that, I'm sure there's been a time, which I can't think right now. Well, I think you're just a good person. No, what about you? I'm petty on a daily basis. It's a sport for me. I know. You have good stories.

I literally have a list of like four things I could mention. I'll mention the most recent because it happened this weekend. Oh my gosh, George. I was in a store. I was excited to make a purchase of a nice jacket. You know, I like my jackets. Yeah, you love a jacket. And I was like, wow, they have the one I want.

It's in my size, very exciting. It was the right price point. And I walk up to the register and it comes up with the wrong price. Oh, then was on the price tag. Yeah, it was like $27 more than was on the tag. And I went, hey, the tag says this. and she brought over a manager and like, hey, the tag wrong on them.

And she went, oh yeah, we changed our pricing. And I was like, what? And then she changed her tune and said, well, that's actually a different jacket and it was mislabeled. And I said, well, will you just honor the price? Like, I'm trying to stay in my budget here. And she said, no, that's the new price.

And I went, okay, well, I'm just going to hold off for now. And I gave it back to her. For $27. Over $27. Didn't get what you wanted. They didn't make a sale that day that they easily could have made. I know.

It was 8% difference. So they were unwilling to give me an 8% discount and lose the sale. And then I went online. Do you think they really did mislabel the jacket, though? Did they or didn't they? But it doesn't matter to you. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter.

I did go online. The jacket was more expensive. So they did raise their prices at some point and they probably didn't update the tag. Oh, yeah. That's what happened. But I went online. But you're like, listen, just give me the price. Yes.

Yeah. It's not that hard. Yes. But then I go to the website and I see a 10% off if you sign up for a newsletter. So I signed up for the newsletter and it was cheaper to buy it online. Oh no. Even with shipping costs than to buy it in their store. Stop it.

So you got a better deal. You know what? And I bought it online. That's the Lord's work right there. I still supported that business, but based on principle, I walked out of there. Yeah. And if they were going to, you should have been like pretty woman. Like you work on commission, big mistake.

That's exactly what I wanted to say. Huge, huge. But it's like a local business and they're well loved by the community. So I wasn't going to raise a big stink. Okay. But it was just enough that I went, well, I'm not going to make the purchase. Do you think about that? I'm sure they talked.

I'm sure they're like, well, that guy was a little much. Wow, that was a reaction. All over an 8%. Oh, my gosh. Oh, so funny. Well, you guys, you've been sending us so many guilty-to-charge questions. I have like three right now screenshot and I've got to send you all because it's like, they keep coming, which you so appreciate.

So at Rachel Cruz and at George Camel, give it to us. We love hearing from you. And if you loved this episode, you're going to love weird money habits that will make you rich. We'll put a link so you can check it out and make sure to subscribe to the channel so you don't miss an all-new episode of. Smart Money Happy Hour.