Smart Money Podcast — From Eggflation to Ghost Jobs: Roasting 2024’s Biggest Financial Turkeys – NerdWallet

Welcome to NerdWallet’s Sensible Cash podcast, the place we reply your real-world cash questions. On this episode:

Have a good time 2024’s Monetary Turkeys as we highlight the 12 months’s largest cash blunders and share tricks to keep away from them your self.

Why are grocery costs so excessive in 2024? What are ghost jobs and the way do they have an effect on job seekers? Hosts Sean Pyles and Sara Rathner roast the 12 months’s “Monetary Turkeys” (pun supposed), spotlighting the most important cash misfortunes of 2024 and providing listeners an opportunity to commiserate over shared monetary frustrations. They share their very own takes on this 12 months’s monetary flops and invite listeners to mirror on how these points have affected their lives, turning monetary woes right into a shared chortle or sigh of aid.

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This transcript was generated from podcast audio by an AI device.

Welcome to NerdWallet’s Sensible Cash podcast, the place you ship us your cash questions and we reply them with the assistance of our genius Nerds. I am Sean Pyles.

And I am Sara Rathner. Sean, comfortable Thanksgiving.

Oh, and a contented Thanksgiving to you too, Sara. On this present day of thanks, I wish to thank all of our listeners for taking part within the grand Sensible Cash experiment. We love getting and answering your questions, and we respect all of you and your loyal listenership.

It truly is a privilege to be right here in entrance of the microphone interacting with people, serving to them with their funds. I’ve to say, I actually take pleasure in listening to about individuals’s lives and the monetary selections that they are hoping to get assist with. And never simply because I’m a nosy individual, but additionally as a result of I identical to to know what’s on individuals’s minds.

And the way we will help individuals. It truly is an honor. I have been answering the questions of Sensible Cash listeners for a number of years now, and generally individuals ask if I get tired of answering related questions time and again. And I at all times say no as a result of in reality, every listener’s query is completely different. No matter somebody needs assist with is knowledgeable by their very own monetary background and experiences and their present monetary targets, and I simply discover that stuff endlessly fascinating.

So do I. And moreover, listeners be a part of us at completely different factors, at completely different episodes. So it’s useful to repeat subjects on occasion. And when you’re making a extremely powerful monetary resolution, generally it’s a must to hear about it a number of occasions earlier than you are feeling comfy truly taking any kind of motion. We’re right here to look at all kinds of cash stuff from a number of angles.

We’re all about knowledgeable selections, and it is our job to present you that data. For all of these nice and fantastic episodes, right now, we’re handing out our 2024 Monetary Turkey Awards. And by turkeys, we imply issues that actually missed the mark within the monetary world. And let me inform you, there have been various turkeys this 12 months.

That is true. So Sean, what do winners get?

A damaged wishbone and unsalted gravy.

Yuck. No person needs these. That is like getting socks—

Yeah. Effectively, in a second, we bestow honors on the monetary turkeys of 2024. However when you have a cash query for the Nerds, we invite you to name us or textual content us any time, together with holidays, on the Nerd hotline at 901-730-6373. That is 901-730-NERD. Or electronic mail us at [email protected].

And if you wish to nominate your individual Monetary Turkey of the 12 months Award, we’re all ears, so tell us. We’ll be again in a second with our nominees and winners for monetary or financial turkeys of the 12 months. Stick with us.

Okay, we’re again and prepared with our nominees and winners of the Sensible Cash 2024 Monetary Turkeys of the 12 months. Sara, what’s your first candidate?

If we’ll speak turkey, let’s talk about grocery inflation. Keep in mind eggflation? That was truly a 2023 drawback. That peaked in January of that 12 months, nevertheless it’s nonetheless actually laborious to get out of the shop generally with out spending 50 bucks on just some gadgets. And meals costs are up considerably since 2019, because of every part from provide chain points to chook flu to the battle in Ukraine. And in keeping with the USDA, as US family incomes rise, these households truly spend more cash on meals, however their meals spending represents a smaller share of revenue.

So take a look at it this fashion. knowledge from 2022, households within the lowest revenue quintile spent 31.3% of their revenue on meals. That is practically a 3rd of their family revenue. On the opposite facet of the coin, households within the highest revenue quintile spent simply 8% of their revenue on meals. So it is a drawback that impacts US households throughout the board, nevertheless it’s affecting particular varieties of households far more severely. So we’ll need to see how this continues to play out. Excessive meals costs will be laborious to abdomen…pun supposed.

Good job, Sara. Love that pun. And a strong and on-theme nominee for the meals vacation. By the best way, I’ll say I am nonetheless upset about how a lot my cream cheese prices these days, though I cannot quit my bagels. Okay, Sara, what’s your subsequent candidate?

That is a extremely particular meals merchandise to be upset about, however okay. That is high-quality. I really like a great bagel and cream cheese myself. All proper, so my subsequent candidate: ghost jobs, and I’m not speaking about seasonal work as an actor in a haunted home attraction. These are job listings on-line that look fully actual, however the position both does not truly exist or it is already been stuffed and the corporate’s nonetheless promoting it as in the event that they’re nonetheless in search of candidates.

Based on a Might 2024 survey by Resume Builder, 40% of corporations posted a faux job itemizing this 12 months, and three in 10 corporations at present have energetic faux listings. So why the heck do corporations do that? As a result of that is actually annoying. A pair causes. One is to look open to new expertise or make it appear to the surface viewers that the corporate is rising. Generally they identical to seeing what expertise is on the market to allow them to have a group of potential future workers.

They could even be doing this to trick present workers into considering they’re about to get some aid if the corporate’s been understaffed. And even worse, they’re doing this to remind their present workers that they are replaceable. I imply, hear, all of us already know that AI is coming for us all, so we do not must be reminded of that 12 months spherical. You already know what I imply?

Anyway, what actually is horrible about that is that some corporations will go so far as truly interviewing job candidates with zero intention of shifting ahead with them in any method. And I do know various people who find themselves job searching proper now, and ghost jobs are an enormous waste of their time. That is time that they might be spending on interviews that might truly result in actual job gives.

Wow. Sara, I’ve received to confess, I had not heard of the ghost job phenomenon, however it’s actually tousled. What a merciless approach to play with people who find themselves determined for employment in some instances. Yikes. So Sara, you’ve got given us your nominees. Which one wins your 2024 Monetary Turkey Award?

I’ve received to go together with ghost jobs. And such as you stated, it’s merciless to toy with people who find themselves simply looking for a approach to assist themselves and their households. Yeah, do not mess with compensation, corporations.

A strong winner. Unsalted gravy for all of the ghost job posters.

Might these recruiters be coated in unsalted gravy the best way individuals will get slimed on Nickelodeon.

Oh, sure. I’d love that.

All proper, Sean. So these have been my nominees. What are yours?

First up, I wish to nominate one of the grotesque turkeys within the monetary world, scams and scammers. We did a particular sequence about scams earlier this 12 months and heard from individuals, together with my very own dad, who’ve been put by means of every kind of hell attempting to reclaim their cash and their lives after they have been financially assaulted by scammers. And it looks as if each week there’s one more report a couple of huge knowledge breach, which signifies that we’re all uncovered but once more to scammers who’re attempting to make a buck off of our private data.

It is a strong nomination, Sean. It is really easy to fall for a rip-off, and none of us are immune.

Yeah. In order we at all times say, people, freeze your credit score experiences and recurrently monitor your accounts for any humorous enterprise. You’ll be able to join your free credit score rating and get credit-building insights personalised to you once you register at nerdwallet.com. So we are going to put a hyperlink to that in right now’s present notes.

Good plug, Sean. I see what you probably did there.

Sure. I am simply attempting to present people helpful assets, as at all times. Onto my second turkey. It is barely conceptual, so stick with me. It’s the hole between how we’re all advised the economic system is doing and how we really feel concerning the economic system. We noticed a great deal of financial experiences all through 2024 exhibiting that the job market continued to be resilient, even when it cooled a bit. And inflation actually slowed. However issues nonetheless do not feel nice, proper? Such as you have been saying earlier, Sara, grocery purchasing just isn’t an pleasurable expertise. It is painful. And there is some knowledge to again this up too. Bank card delinquency charges are as excessive as they have been since 2011, in keeping with the Federal Reserve Financial institution of St. Louis. The economic system simply continues to really feel actually bizarre, bizarre sort of like how a turkey seems to be bizarre. It is each majestic and lumpy on the identical time.

Truthfully, I do not assume I’ve ever heard majestic and lumpy in the identical sentence earlier than. And truthfully, I hope to by no means hear that once more, so thanks for that second I by no means wish to relive.

All proper, Sean, what’s your winner for the 2024 Monetary Turkey Award?

It is received to be scams and scammers, the individuals who perpetrate these scams. And that is one thing that we’re all weak to on a regular basis. It is tremendous scary and never sufficient is being performed to guard us from these criminals, so everybody, keep vigilant.

Sure. Simply assume that everybody’s out to get you, and make them show they’re legit. Let all bizarre calls go to voicemail and solely name them again in the event that they’re actual. Screening your calls is a time-honored custom that goes again to the times of answering machines, and I say we deliver it again.

And do what you’ll be able to to guard your private data. Don’t go giving out your Social Safety quantity willy-nilly, even when it may be already on the market.

Yeah. Truthfully, it in all probability is.

I chortle, however actually, I cry on the within.

I do know. It’s unhappy and scary. Effectively, Sara, now that we’ve handed out some turkeys, how about we go eat a few of our personal, or I suppose in my quasi-vegetarian family, I am going to go eat some nut loaf.

What the hell is a nut loaf?

It is precisely what it appears like. It is a huge mush of nuts and mushrooms and it is actually good. A lot of cheese in it too.

Ew. Oh, no. Each time you point out one other ingredient, you make it worse.

I swear these items style higher than they sound.

They received to rename it. They should… Oh, oh, nut loaf.

Yeah. The branding round nut loaf might be improved, I am going to give them that. However I swear, it is actually, actually good. Anyway, that is all we’ve for this episode. We right here at Sensible Cash want you and yours a really comfortable Thanksgiving and an exquisite vacation season to come back. And keep in mind, in fact, that we’re right here for you and your cash questions, so ship them our method. Name or textual content us on the Nerd hotline at 901-730-6373. You can too electronic mail us at [email protected]. Go to nerdwallet.com/podcast for more information on this episode. And keep in mind, you’ll be able to observe the present in your favourite podcast app, together with Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and iHeartRadio to robotically obtain new episodes.

As we speak’s episode was produced by Tess Vigeland and edited by Sean. Megan Maurer combined our audio. And here is our transient disclaimer. We aren’t monetary or funding advisors. This nerdy information is supplied for basic instructional and leisure functions and should not apply to your particular circumstances.

And with that stated, till subsequent time, flip to the Nerds.

It is good. I swear it’s.

It is received the worst title. No, it simply sounds so bland. It is like…

It is not bland. It is filled with umami taste.

It is mushrooms and cashews, walnuts. I believe there’s some almonds in there. A lot of cheese. It is like 50% cheese.

I imply, I am down with 50% cheese. However there should have been an previous Twitter account that did this. It was like bizarre recipes from mid-century.

And it sort of appears like a kind of issues that folks ate for dinner within the 60s.