Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel - What Will It Cost to Live in 40 Years?

Episode Date: August 24, 2023

Are we headed toward a cashless society where debit cards are for old people? We don’t know what the future holds, but George and Rachel take a guess and tell you why you don’t need to worry about the future of money. Plus, we’ll dive into which past future predictions were totally ludicrous and which ones were spot on. In this episode: - George and Rachel talking about the future cost of weddings, homes and your favorite lattes (and how we’ll pay for them) - The reason George could never get away with committing a crime - What futuristic ’90s movies predicted the world would look like today Helpful Resources: ·      Start making memories! Go get Tapple at Walmart or wherever you buy board games. ·      Booking a flight with Going is the best and simplest way to pay less and travel more. Sign up for free today at going.com/smartmoney. ·     Get your finances organized, make a plan, build your confidence, and kick money stress out of your life for good with the EveryDollar budgeting app. Go to www.everydollar.com/smartmoney to get a free two-week trial and $15 off your premium membership to EveryDollar. Do you have a Guilty as Charged question for Rachel and George? 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. ·     Learn more about your ad choices: https://www.megaphone.fm/adchoices ·     Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy: https://www.ramseysolutions.com/compa...   This Week’s Happy Hour Special: Vieux Carré Ingredients: ·     3/4 ounce rye whiskey ·     3/4 ounce cognac ·     3/4 ounce sweet vermouth ·     1 to 2 dashes Angostura bitters ·     1 to 2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters ·     1/2 ounce Bénédictine liqueur ·     Cherry (for garnish) Instructions: Add the rye whiskey, cognac, sweet vermouth, bitters and Bénédictine liqueur to a mixing glass with ice. Stir, then strain into an old fashioned glass over fresh ice. Garnish with a cherry and enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey guys, I'm Rachel Cruz. I'm George Camel. And this is Smart Money Happy Hour. Cheers. Cheers. Well, this is the show where two friends who happen to be money experts talk about what you're talking about. So everything from pop culture, current events, and money. And today, we are low-key talking about the future of the world.

And, of course, how money gets wrapped into all of that. Yeah, because it's a legit situation here, George. So we're going to be breaking it all down on what pop culture has to say. about humanity where it's headed. It's actually going to look in the past and see, like, what did people say? The future was going to be. It's going to be crazy. And what we think life is going to be like here in a few decades and why the smart money

happy hour fam doesn't have to stress even if we're wrong, which is a good thing. Yeah, there's a lot of, it's fun, but it's also frightening to imagine what things could be. I know. It's going to be a great episode. Well, since my imagination really likes to let loose after a good cocktail, I'm glad we're sipping on this one today. What is it, Rachel? I know. Let's hear your pronunciation. It's so French. This is the correct pronunciation, and it's called a Voucaray. Not according to the Frenchman I Googled on YouTube. And how would you pronounce it, George? I can't even get the French accent down. Do it. It's so

stupid. Do it. My feelings are hurt, and I don't want to do it. I don't want to do it. I don't want to do it. What? Do it? You've been doing it all before we started rolling? It gives me more satisfaction not to do it now. Fine, I'll do it. He said it's fine if you want to butcher it in the video. He's like, I know Rachel's going to butcher and say, duke-re. Do not say, say luke-re. Well, you know the server is judging you as you say, I'll have a vu-carre. No, that's what it's called.

Vee, guy. You can't even do it. I can't even do it. And here's my first prediction of the show today, Rachel. If people stick around until the end of the episode, we might give them the rating, the recipe, and the cost breakdown. Oh, that's a good prediction. Wild prediction. In the future, we'll have to see if it comes true or not, George.

Juicy. Let's get to it. Okay. Does the word Walter Cronkite mean anything to you? Oh, wow. Oh, man. All the boomers are going to get mad at me. I know.

Because what I would say, I think he was like on the nightly news. I think he delivered very important information to America. and he had a famous voice. You're right, but in a way that it's like you can't be wrong. You know what I mean? If this was like Miss America. He's just a man. Like, well, in the countries of like, as in such as the U.S., it gives me that vibe.

You know what I mean? I know. That's sweet girl. But to be fair, I was kind of like, yeah, he's the guy on TV. Yeah, just like the old-timey TV news anchor. Okay, yeah. That's a good summary. So, yeah, he was on CBS.

He was on the news. Oh, he was. Okay. Yeah. CBS evening news in the 60s and 70s. Yep. So sorry that we're not super familiar because we weren't even a twinkle in our parents' eye at that point. And our team saw an old clip from the year 1967 posted on Twitter, which is so strange.

That 1967 meets Twitter slash X, the new name of Twitter. Yeah. And I think about my parents because they were 1960s babies born 1960. So they were both seven years old. A little baby Dave watching the news. Just. Yeah, Walter Quarkite. I don't know if that's how he talked at 7. I doubt it.

He's probably doing real estate deals by then with his buddies, like fake ones with his toys. That's fine. Okay, we're already off the rails. So in this clip on Twitter, Walter, I call him Walter, was predicting what a family living room and home office would look like by the year 2000. According to a government report at the time, in the clip is juicy. We can't play it here probably for legal reasons. I have no idea. But we're going to put the clip in the show notes.

Yes. It's a minute long. It's so old-timey. It is. But then it's kind of funny because a lot of it came true. Yes. A lot of it, you're like, that's exactly what you can do right now. So here's the big predictions they had for the year 2000.

So remember, this is 23 years ago. Yeah. And this one was wrong. So the first one was wrong. But the average U.S. worker would have a 30-hour work week and a one month vacation. We're not that European. Yes. Okay.

The next one, very true. you would be able to watch a football game on a screen at home. Okay. Well. Yeah. That we can do. Thumbs up to that one. I don't know why football games instead of other things, but sure.

Next, you ready? You'll be able to get the news by satellite from anywhere in the world. Wow. Didn't even... I know. They nailed it. They didn't even know about the internet. That's it.

Okay. How about this one? You'll be able to visibly see people while talking to them on the phone. D-da-da-da-da-da-da. FaceTime. Happening. And then lastly, you'll be able to work from home with all this new technology. And here we are.

Here we are. Post-2020. Now, the year 2000, not that many people were working from home. That's fair. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. If they were guessing 20-23, I'd be like nailed it. Yeah, they needed an extra 20-year buffer to get that part. Yeah, the computers in 2000 were rough.

But you could so watch the news wherever. Yep. In 2000. You could, yeah, watch football from home in the year 2000. That's a very important one for me. So some of it did still happen. But that's pretty good. Was FaceTime?

No. No, no, no, no. They were wrong about timing for a lot of this. Yes. They were right about that it would happen. And honestly, the fact that the government was right about anything, I think that's, you know, good for them. Well done. Well done, government.

You're not going to get that out of Rachel, but. Get that on the straight path. All right. Oh, my gosh. Let's move on. Okay, so let's tell everyone about our predictions, George. What do you think life is going to be like? I don't know, four years.

That's 2063. Okay, I predict I'll be 74. Okay, I'll be 75. Good prediction. Wild guess. Wow, that means little baby me will more than likely possibly have babies of her own. I'll have a 40-year-old daughter. Thank you for that.

You'll possibly be a grandfather. I would think. Yeah, if she's 40. Yeah? For sure. Yeah. So we'll be grandparents, 75, 74. Hopefully still alive.

I mean, can I put that caveat out there? Oh, yeah. Yeah, we're like shooting for the 90s. That would be wonderful, just to be alive and healthy. Yeah, absolutely. Still be doing this show. I wonder what AI is going to, like, I wonder like what technology information will be like. Do you think we've hit sort of a, like we're not going to go that much further?

Like there's already a smartphone. So we already have a digital. technological device. So other than like the size of the screen and like what we can do on the internet. And where it is, glasses or whatnot, right? Yeah, I don't know that we're all going to be wearing our phones and our glasses. I don't buy that. Really?

Yeah. Think about it. You don't like to, half the people in this room don't want to wear glasses. Yeah, that's true. All of a sudden we're going to force people to wear glasses? I don't buy it. Okay. Do you think humanity will be full of lazy slabs or bionic super humans?

Oh. Man. I was lazy. Lazy Slops was my first, like, nature, which makes me so sad. Well, I think of Wally, and so my brain goes like, yes, most of us will be lazy slops. I think the screens, and I think, like, yes, we're not getting healthier, are we? I don't think we are as like a society. As a society.

Yeah. At least in the U.S. Yeah. What do you think people will eat? Oh, man. Trash food. Yeah, I mean, well, that's like today, right? Like astronaut food?

Do you think they're just like... No, I think food will... No, I think food will... food is continued. It's still like a thing. Okay. In 40 years. You don't think we're like, it's not going to evolve. No, because I think it's too much of a social like staple for people. Oh. Like you go to a nice restaurant, you go out to eat with friends. Like it's, it's a event. But I don't like pizza, like don't, don't break it. It's not broken. Don't try to fix it. Right. Pizza will be here 40 years from now. I think so too.

74 year old, five year old Rachel will be eating pizza. We're going to believe that. What will a gallon of milk cost? Just guess. Number. Oh gosh. So currently... I'm going to go double. I bet it'll be like... I bet it'll be seven. Okay. Today, national average is $4.26. Yeah, yeah, I'm going to say $7. Back 40 years ago, 1983, it was $1.17.

Yeah. I went $10. Okay, so you're a little bit more than me. Yeah. Okay, a cup of coffee. 40 years ago, it was $2.50. Today, it's roughly $4.90. So $2.50 to $5, it doubled.

I think it will keep going up. I'm going $6. For a cup of coffee. Just a straight cup of coffee. In 40 years? Yeah. Oh, I'm going to win like eight. I think we hit a limit on just brewed coffee.

Because people still drink it. Are you kidding? Yeah, but your lattes will get more expensive. You're ever out. You're talking a language I don't understand. We could break this down. We will not. It's just coffee.

Gallon of gas. Oh, gosh. Today's what, like, four. 382 is the national average. 40 years ago is 116. Oh, this is an interesting one. So it has tripled in 40 years. Do you think it'll triple again to like 10 bucks a gallon?

I just went well with our, the Tesla movement, the electric car movement. What does that do to the oil industry? Oh, you think way more people will be driving electric, making gas cheaper? Because if there's not enough demand, the price will go down. But then all the people that are part of the oil companies, are they moving on to their venture? Like, it's the reason, you know what I mean?

Like, you get, I get, I get. We're talking big, big gas now. I'm going to say, mm-hmm, I'm going to say six. I said six. Okay, how much will a home cost in 40 years? This one could get depressing. 1983, average home 75 grand.

2022, average home, 455 grand. Oh, my gosh. What will it be 40 years from now? A million, right? It feels like a four-year-old. Like, a million? Sure. Yeah, I would say a million.

I went 750. Okay. Yeah, I think it's a certain cap. I'm not saying that it can't be a million. But for the average, yeah, I'm like, I, yeah. Okay, weddings. Keeps going up. Oh, yeah.

Okay. So today, average $30,000, 1980s, $10,400. Weddings, I'm going to go $50 to 60. Okay, I went 75. Oh, fancy-chmancy. Well, and people are more, you know, it's more Instagram culture, so you want to kind of flex. Oh, yep. Yeah.

We're just going to get more and more of that. Continue to do that. Or weddings become just about your reputation and for the Instagram versus utility. That's good. Okay, this one's real, Rachel. How much will a four-year-year-term? degree cost 40 years from now. Oh.

That one hurts my stomach a little bit to just think about. I know. That's a good question. I don't know because you look at the average cost of tuition, you know, over the past decade or so. And you look back in 1980s, the average price to attend the four-year college was $10,231. Annually. Annually.

And now, again, the average student now is graduating with $37,720. in debt. So again, the averages are all over the map depending on private or public today, the tuition. But it's gone insane. I mean, it is. It's crazy. So not only is it going to get wildly more expensive potentially, but it's going to cause people to go further into debt.

Yeah, that's what they're choosing to do. Yeah, for sure. And we already have a giant crisis on our hands with this $1.6 trillion, over 40 million people in student loan debt. And the payments are coming. back, Rachel. I know. And people are starting to get, you know, the tingly feeling, the little sweat on the brow on the palms because they're going, I wasn't planning on this and now I've got to start budgeting for it. Yep, that's right. And that's kind of what we do around here is we help people get out

and student loans are no different. It's like any other type of debt and we believe everyone can get out. Yep, that's exactly right. So we even said, okay, what can we do as a company to help people and show people how to do this? Give them some hope in a scary time. Yep. So again, we don't want people going into debt for college. We show you how to pay cash for college because we think that's really important. So we have a free live stream around this whole student loan crisis. If you go to Ramsey Solutions.com slash student loans, you can sign up for it. Because again, we want to help people say, hey, if your payments are coming back and it's freaking you out, which I get how it would, what do you do about it. So we're going to walk people through all of that. That's awesome. Yeah, be sure to go check that out. Instead of just freaking out looking at headlines, let's figure out what we can do about it. And that's what this live stream is all. about. So I hope everyone can tune in and tell your friends. Yep. All right, Rachel, let's move on. How will we travel in the future?

Oh. I think the next thing will be Elon Musk. I think, isn't he doing like a secret highway in L.A.? Like the tunnel thing? I think I've heard about that. Like, I wonder if there's going to be these like faster ways to get around. But I feel like only billionaires will be able to travel. Like they'll have be a billion dollar membership to be able to use the tunnel. Oh, yeah. You know what I mean? Like, we can't all just use these tunnels. That's insane. Yeah, that's probably, yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't even think we'll all be driving electric cars. I think electric cars will increase, but I don't think we're all going to be, like, forced to give up our gasoline cars.

I don't think it's like a force thing, but I do think people are like, oh, yeah, if I can get a hybrid or if I can get this or that, why would I not? Yeah. And I think the average consumer will naturally go there. I think that's from an electric car driver. They'll still have wheels. I don't think we're going to just be hovering around anytime soon. Not in 40 years. No, in.

A hundred years, maybe. Okay. I won't be around to see if you're right, Rachel. So way to go winning that argument. Up to the ante a little bit. Okay, technology. What do you think? Do you think, like, you can, like, try on clothes

through, like, a hologram kind of thing? Like, the hologram thing's interesting. I don't know if I even fully understand it. Didn't Michael Jackson do one? Oh, yeah. Like, you could, like, go. I think maybe Prince was a hologram. And you could, like, watch a full concert, right, of Michael Jackson?

Yeah. I feel like you would pay money to. see a holographic Taylor Swift. And if it was like the full experience, and it kind of looked like she was really there. It sounds like really morbid. This is very morbid. So forgive me.

Is this before or after she passes away? Oh. Well, I feel like after would be the play here. Okay, that's what I was hoping. I don't think I would go see a hologram. While she's alive. I would do it. If it was like 20 bucks instead of paying $4,000 for a ticket,

I'd be like, yeah, I'll just go do that instead. Okay, like I remember Clueless, the movie. She had like the rotating closet and she like had the screen and she was like putting together an outfit like all that. Like do you think like technology is going to be more woven into our lives? I think it will for like the Uber rich. I think for the normal everyday person, we're not all going to be. So you're not going to go above the iPhone. Like the iPhone is it.

You think we've maxed out at the iPhone. I think Steve Jobs nailed it. I don't know that we can do much better. That's so interesting. Android will never catch up. I think iPhone is the pinnacle at this point. All right, Rachel, we've talked about technology. a lot, but let's talk about the future of money specifically.

Yes. Because that's what the show is all about, smart money happy hour. I know. Okay, so what will money look like in 40 years? Do you think we will have like a digital currency? Yes. Yeah. Do I think it will replace all other types?

No. But will it be an option? Sure. Like it is now. Yeah. We're almost there. Let's be honest. Yeah, I don't think we'll have cards.

I think it'll all be... Touchless with your phone. I think it'll be a phone or like, yeah. They're starting to get it. into like the fingerprint situation. Yes, I think it's going to be more of that

which is crazy. But I think cards will still work. You know, in 40 years, I don't think people will do that. It's like writing checks. It's like if you pull out a card

everyone's like, oh, he has a card. Oh, that sweet old 74 year old man. Oh, you think it's going to be like writing a check. Yeah. Old lady pulls out her card

at the grocery store like, oh gosh, this lady's going to take a while. 100%. Yeah, no, I think it's like I think it's quick with phones. Yes, that or your eyes. Like you go to clear

at the airport. And they do like the retina scan. I think it'll be more like that kind of technology, which is scary that the government or the banks have like parts of you of like your fingerprint, your eyes, like that's kind of creepy. I already did 23 and me, so I feel like I'm done for. You are. Why did you do that, George?

Here's my take. I don't think anyone out there thinks I'm that interesting. So like this idea that they're all like, they're listening to our phone calls and they're going to use our data. Like they're going to just try to sell me a reverse mortgage one day with my data. Like, who cares? You know what I mean? What do you think?

going to happen. I don't know. I just think they are collecting DNA from people. Okay, they have my DNA. What are they in new? Recreate me? Yeah, they can take. That's amazing for the world. What a blessing. What a blessing the world got blessed with. That there's now like little bionic Georgia's running around. Yeah, you know, they're doing it for criminal stuff too, George, so you can't go murder anyone because I don't play it on it. They're now taking, again, not a fear for me. They're going to be like, what if you commit a crime and they catch you because they have your DNA? I'm like, good, I should go to jail if I committed a crime. No, I know.

But I'm just saying it's weird for them to have like a part of you, though. Not like a conversation, but like a physical part of you, it's weird. I mean, I'm not doing any of those websites. Okay. This is a new conspiracy episode. We just spun up. Will cash still exist? This is the big fear.

I did a whole episode on my YouTube channel about the cashless society. Is it going to happen? Some businesses are already saying, hey, we don't take cash. I know. I think it will. I think it will eventually fade out, which is scary because I think they'll there's a level of control now people can have over our money more so when it's digital. Well, there's more kind of surveillance. If it's all digital, it can all be tracked.

Right now, if you give me a dollar, we don't really know what happened to that dollar. So, yeah, I think more store, I think it'll go more to, yeah, to digital stuff than cash. I think cash will still be around. I think it'll still be legal tender, and I think most places will still take it. Okay. Yeah. Cash is still king, 40 years from now. I like that. Now, when we say cash, that can mean a lot of things. But right now we're talking about the paper cash in coins.

Like a bill. Yeah. Some banks are saying we don't take coins anymore. That's kind of a new one. But you could just still go to CoinStar and then cash it in to get a gift card or whatever, you know? Yeah. It's not a big deal. Find a way around the system.

I'm not worried about it. I don't have like billions of dollars in coins. I'm like, no, my coins. I know. Totally. Well, people on average be richer or poorer, do you think? Oh. Like the standard of living and the...

I think the gap may widen. Yeah, it's continuing to widen. But I don't think overall, here's what I think. We're all going to be making over $100,000 and feel broke. That's kind of the future I see. Consumorism, I think, goes faster. Yes. Than wages.

Regardless of inflation, we will always outspend what we earn. We'll always want to keep up our lifestyle. It's a human condition, not an economic or history. Exactly. So I think we're all going to make more money and everyone's going to be like, it's not enough. There's no number in retirement that will make me feel. feel secure and really points back to our management of money. Yeah.

So that's the hot take. I think that's fair. So obviously, we don't know what the future holds, you guys. We're just looking at kind of trends, making our predictions. It's a wild guess. It's a hunch. Yes. But at the end of the day, again, that's all out of our control, right?

We can't control what the future is going to do. But we can control what we choose to do regardless of the year, right? And that's what's crazy is the money principles from like the 1960s, you know, would have still made you wealthy. if you use those principles again today. That's true. They're tried and true, right? The underlying principles are still there. So that's what you can control is like, okay, what am I going to choose to do with my money?

That's really good. Yeah, I love this old verse from Proverbs 2120. In the House of the Wise are stores of choice food and oil. But a foolish man, devour is all he has. Yep. So that principle, regardless of your faith background, it applies. Yes. And that's the wise.

There is, yes. Foolish people, their stuff's gone. They spent on their paycheck. Yep. It's gone. And food and oil was like a commodity, right? They used that to trade and to barter. So it was almost like money. It was a highly coveted resource. Yeah. So like when you're wise, you have some of that. You have margin, all that. And yeah, folks people just spend everything they make. So you want to have that margin. So even 40 years from now, if you spend everything you make, you're going to be broke. If you can learn to live on less than you make and have some emergency savings in place and be investing for the future, you're going to be okay. You're going to be okay. Regardless of what happens. I don't spiral out of it. control thinking about the future. Do you? No, no, no, no, no. I'm not that worried. I'm more worried about, like, raising a kid in the modern era than I am like, you know, what's the world going to be like financially? I know. You shifting your perspective. It's a lot. It's a, you have a, I don't know, did you experience that? Because you brought kids in this world not long ago. Oh, sure. Yeah. Yeah,

you worry less about yourself. But now in the digital age and technology. We're going to be out, hopefully sooner than them, right? So I'm like, oh my gosh, the world that they're living in they're just now entering, you're like, who. With all the technology. Yes, and everything. So it's wild. But, but again, controlling what you can control. We can't control the future.

We can't control if it's glasses that we look at our phones at or our actual phones. Like, whatever it is, being aware of our actions and our habits around money, I think is really key. Yes, and not making decisions based off fear. Because a lot of people, as they look to the future, they're like, well, Rachel, I'm going to totally empty my 401K to go by goal. because it's all coming down. Yes. Please don't do that. No.

And don't bury your money and tin cans in the backyard. Look at perspective, history, the stock market. You're going to be okay if you just do wise things and not live out of paranoia. That's right.

So before we wrap this episode, I wanted to cover some predictions from past movies that predicted the future to see if they were right or not. And I think the one that comes to mind first is obviously back to the future too. Yes.

Released in 1989. The year I was born. Uh-huh. And it was set in 2015, October 15, 2015. Wow. To be exact. So their predictions were flying skateboards, VR glasses, smart watches, self-adjusting fashion. So like shoe laces that would like tie themselves, that kind of stuff.

They invented that. It's called Velcro. I don't know why we got rid of those shoes. Those were awesome. Oh, they're there. They're still there. Robots doing human jobs, appliances that could talk to you, flying cars, flat screen. TVs, all of it.

And interesting, fun fact, the Chicago Cubs in the movie predicted that they would win the World Series in 2015. And they were a year off. They won in 2016. Well, that means they were wrong. So they were pretty far in the future. That's pretty impressive, though. I mean, most of the stuff on this list, they were right about.

Wait, what? I was going to say the opposite. VR glasses, smart watches. Flying skateboards? Okay, falling skateboards now. Robots doing human jobs exist for sure. The clients is I can talk to you? Yeah, Siri, your TV voice remote.

Oh. I talk to Google more than my wife most days. She doesn't want to hear from me. Oh, man, I guess it is true. I wasn't really thinking about all that. Flat screen TVs, biometrics and mobile payments. Wow, George. Okay, yeah, fair. So skip the flying skateboards and flying cars.

Yeah. Take that out of the equation. Everything else? Kind of there. Nailed it. Okay, next one is one of my faves, Zenon, Girl from the 21st Century. It was released on Disney Channel as a Disney Channel. original movie. We all love those. Those words. Nistalgia right there.

Those were great. Okay, it was released in 1999, and the movie was set in 2049. Wow. 50 years in the future. Yep. So it was that, you know, humans could casually leave Earth and then go into space. Not quite there. Yeah, and they would have very fancy space stations, right? So it would be like, you could travel between Earth and space, but it was, like, really fun. There were, like, clubs and restaurants. It's like a very just, like, cool place to be, very, like, a, neon clothing. Chelsea Clinton was president. Okay. In the movie.

Recycling was a big deal, a huge part of the fashion, too. That one became true. I feel like that's big in fashion. Yeah. Data is sort of tiny CDs. Okay. Do you remember mini CDs? There was a phase of many CDs back in the day of our day.

So they were close on that. I'll give that one to them. Yeah. Now we went away from CDs to like thumb drives. Now it's all digital. So that's close enough. That's right. That's right.

So I would say, I mean, overall, though, not spot on. I mean, the whole idea of living in space. We were too far off. Yeah. Because to your point, Rachel, why aren't we going back all the time? Need a know. Next, the Matrix. Oh, yeah.

Released in 99. Same year as Enon. That's right. Which one was better? Only time will tell. And rotten tomatoes. That will tell you as well. So this cemented Keanu.

as an icon, and it was set in the year 2199-ish. The movie doesn't quite confirm, but it was around that era. Yep. And there's some major dystopian predictions here. A little darker than Xenon, a little less clubbing, and a little more robots taking over the world. So the machines take over. They're trying to enslave humanity, harvest our energy and keep us blissfully unaware of our oppression by entertaining our brains with super realistic virtual reality. Supercalifragilistic, X.

All of it. So, wow. Um, man, George. Okay. So what do you think we can take from this? Because other, you know, think about like the Handmaids tale, the Hunger Games, the Brave New World. Like, there's like some really, like, depressing stuff out there about the future. Well, I think a movie that was said in the future and it's like, everything is great. I don't think anybody would watch that. Yeah. They know our human hearts want to see like, it could all go down, man. It's going to be I am legend. It's going to be bird box. It's going to be a quiet place. It's going to be Wally. We're all just going to be rolling around and chairs. Yeah. Drinking from slurpees. I know. Which that part, I think, came true in Wally. They were spot on in that.

There was a level of that. That could be true. Yeah. But, again, I think the biggest message, the future, regardless of what happens, we still have our human dignity and our human, you know, the assumption that we're going to be able to make choices and our free will to the best of our abilities, to our values. That's true. That's key. That's really well said. And I do think as people of faith, this is kind of a temporary pit stop.

You know? For sure. The earth, it's all temporary. It is. So I don't get too invested in what's going to happen now, what's happening in the future. I try to do the right next thing for me and my family and not worry about what's going on out there. Right. Because you can make some bad decisions if you're like that paranoid and freaked out.

People don't make wise decisions with money. I have enough anxiety as it is without thinking about what could be 40 years from now. I'm like, we've got enough problems today, guys. Can we just try to fix those first? I know. Figure this out. But there's a lot you can do, especially when it comes to money, because that's the fear is, well, 40 years from now, Rachel, everything's going to be so expensive, we'll own nothing. And that's how they want it. And it's this big conspiracy. And I'm like, or you can just set yourself up in spite of all that.

Yeah. And increase your income, get on a budget and get out of debt. Yes. And so if you're truly worried about that, prove it by getting on a budget, getting out of debt, having some money in the bank, investing for the future, instead of just complaining about it saying, what's the point, Rachel, it's all coming down. anyways. Totally, yes. That's exhausting. Because the future you is going to want to have a great life. That's what I always think about when we're putting money away for investing or you write a check for the Roth IRA and you're just like, you're doing stuff that you're like, man, I wish I could, or I am. I'm like, there's stuff I could do today with that money to have so much fun. I always think Rachel, you know, 60 year old Rachel is going to want to have a lot of fun

in life. So we need to give her a really fun life. Where Rachel today, she's having fun. It's great. But there's some delayed gratification. There's some maturity there where you're going. But think about the future self of you and work towards that version of YouTube. 75-year-old Rachel is going to be like, wow. I'm going to be so fun. The fun, grandma. She takes you to the space clubs.

I can't wait. I don't know what you probably. That's a possibility in your mind. Maybe. Going full xenon. Who knows what's going to happen. Oh, boy. Well, I hope I'm alive to see it.

Just set your future self up well. I hope I'm alive. to respond to your text and say, I'm not interested in going to the space club tonight. Me and Winston, we're going to watch dumb and dumber, a vintage movie. A vintage movie back in the day. The kids won't understand. That was fine. Are you hopeful or cynical in general, Rachel, about the future?

Hopeful or cynical. I'm hopeful. I think life is great. And I think, you know, there's always going to be the parts that are not great. But overall, I think it's how you choose to see it, too. Beauty is in the eye, beholder. I do. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Rachel, as they say.

I believe that. You believe the best in people. You really do. You are, that's you in this show. You've been like, well, give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they were having a bad day. You make up wild scenarios to justify any human behavior. And I appreciate that about you.

Because you never know their story. Everyone needs a Rachel in their life to be more fun and more hopeful and also to share some conspiracy theories. Thank you. And you need a George in your life to say, Rue. Kare. Kri. Goodie.

That was pretty good. You're improving. You're more cultured than you've ever been. Thank you, George. And the bar was love. I'm just kidding. You were just in Napa. You're so cultured.

That's where culture happens. All right. It's almost the end of the episode, and that brings us to our long-running segment. Guilty as charged. And this is where our producer, Lindsay, gives us a new guilty-as-charged question every week. So, Lindsay, what is it? What is our future hold? What is our future hold?

Well, yeah. What are you guilty of buying recently because your friend told you about it and you felt like you had to have it? Oh, man. Which friend influenced you? This is really good. Okay. Are you ready for this one? I have one from last night.

And I technically hadn't bought it on Amazon. So maybe this doesn't count. But I was like, oh, we got it. We got to have that. Okay, so I follow a girl with Courtney. She's out of Nashville. She's got the cheese gal. I've had her on my show before.

And she showed this fruit fly trap that you plug into the wall. The light. Me and Jordan just heard about this from our friend and bought it. Oh, my gosh, that's it. I know. And I was like, I've got to buy this. It starts with a V, right? So I think I stuck it in my Amazon carts because it's like $12 or something.

Yep. And I was like, oh, it works. It does. Yes. This literally happened 24 hours ago, so that would be mine. Oh, I was looking at my Amazon purchases, and I lead a very boring life. If you want to know something about someone, just let them see your Amazon order history. I think that tells all.

Yes. Mine is a portable tire inflator. Actually, I'm so proud of you. That's a great one to have. And that's very manly. Well done. Thank you. That is really.

You know, I get that a lot, but coming from you. Yes. No, my friend came over and he had one. And I was like, my tire's low and I got to take it to like one of these gas stations. And it's like brr and it does the burr sound. But now I can keep it in my car. And if I get a little flat, I can keep it going on the road. And I felt like as a new dad, this is a very dad move.

Very proud of you, George. So that was a big one. I saw my friend have one. I was like, I got to get one now. Yeah. I was influenced. I love it. I think it's great.

Thank you. So I guess we both drink to that. Yeah, we were both guilty. Vukai. Vukri. Tui Shizong. It was delicious. Very good. Well, speaking of that, it's time for the drink, Rachel.

Yes. Did I win? I think we're about even. Yeah. You know what? Okay. I won. Take it back, George. I'm going to give this drink a 10 out of 10.

I will, too. I don't know that you could improve upon this drink or the mixologist take on it, Michael Reddish. And again, a lot of my rating is what I ordered at a restaurant. And you would. And I would. So here's what's in this drink if you want to try it at home. It's got rye whiskey, cognac, sweet vermouth, Benedictine, Peshodes, bidders, and Angostura bidders.

It's a lot. There's a lot of things going on there. There's a lot in it. It's a pretty boost forward, but I think the flavor is very balanced. And it comes out to $3.33. Oh, really? I thought it was going to be more. Me too, because there's so many ingredients you have to have.

Yeah. So if you have the ingredients at home, this could be an affordable drink. If you go to make it from scratch with none of the ingredients, you'll be spending a pretty penny. Yeah, it'll cost you a little bit. But, hey, we'll put the recipe in the show notes if you want to try it. at home, and this is like a boozy drink. This is like a high-end cocktail bar type of drink.

Yeah, not all places would have it. You may not get this at your local Chili's. Yeah. I could be wrong. Tell me, if your local Chili's makes this. If you go to a nice restaurant, though, they should be able to make it for you. Yes, that's the test if it's a nice restaurant. I know.

Do they know what that drink is? Even if Rachel says it. Same for a Vesper. Some people don't know what it is. We love a Vesper. Give it a try. So great. Well, it's closing time, George.

Sad day. It's been a great episode. So you guys, thanks again for listening and watching always to these episodes. We love that you tune in. Make sure to leave a review because it helps us so much with the algorithms. It helps us know what you like and what you don't like, too. We... It helps us make future episodes. In the future. See what I did there? And make sure to subscribe so you don't miss any episodes that come out every Thursday of Smart Money Happy Hour.