Will Someone in the Media Please Start Asking Questions?

With the current state of America and the conflict with Russia and Ukraine, no one seems to be asking the real questions. Corporate America and Washington have gotten wealthy from overseas cheap labor and manufacturing. It doesn’t seem like anyone wants to address the elephant in the room.

While Russia gets sanctions, they have made a deal to sell energy to China. This is all at the same time America imports just about everything from China and has sold out middle American jobs for cheap labor.

All the talk of sticking up for democracy and doing the right thing by helping Ukraine and America does businesses with a country that has one of the worst records for treating workers and they are certainly not a democracy.

It is time for someone in the media and Washington to really start asking the right questions without the fear of bringing in less revenue.

This Smart Start Money Podcast episode talks about problems that have been staring right at America with no one willing to talk about any of them. The reason is greed and power. There will not be any improvement in America until the real questions are asked and answered with solutions. 

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Where Do We Go From Here?

America is clearly divided. You only need to look at recent government elections. Combine this with financial uncertainty for a growing number of families in the country. Add the most recent tensions felt around the world with Russia and Ukraine. It should not come as a surprise that most Americans are stressed out, depressed, and angry. The mounting bad news even seems to make Covid a concern of the past on nightly television stations.

All the events in the world have been piling up for some time now. Honestly, much of it should not completely come as a surprise with it all becoming much more real. The problem with everything is you will never know the complete story. The media is going to report events for their benefit and Washington will do the same.

There should be questions of how the world and particularly the United States got to this point. However, most of the answers have been starring at us all along. Moreover, the people running the country and making the policies have steered America into what it has become for their own benefit. Politicians are certainly to blame but so is much of corporate America.

The possibility of a terrible conflict is now a concern but if we get through it some issues need to be addressed going forward. Right now, the immediate concern should be are we going to get through all of this. Yet, it is important to start planning on where to go from here if we make it through the other side.

This Smart Start Money Podcast talks about the recent world events with Russia invading Ukraine and what likely needs to happen for long-term solutions in America and around the world. Solutions need to be made to avoid problems in the future for America and start taking care of things at home again.

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Are Employee Satisfaction Surveys Anonymous?

Many companies like to give employee satisfaction surveys. They do this by explaining it helps the company identify areas of improvement. Businesses claim employee surveys are for the benefit of their employees. Moreover, there is also almost always an added statement that the employee survey will be anonymous. However, this is likely rarely ever the case.

The truth is employee satisfaction surveys or engagement surveys are hardly ever for the benefit of a company’s employees and they are almost never completely truly anonymous. Satisfaction surveys at most of today’s companies are just another piece of corporate nonsense that is both outdated and a complete waste of time.

In this Smart Start Money podcast episode, I talk about workplace condition surveys and why they are never truly anonymous.

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Porch Pirates Suck

With the continued growth of e-commerce and home delivery services, porch thieves are seeing an increasing amount of opportunity to plunder online shoppers. Not only is the holiday season a great time for the patio bandits to take what is not theirs, but just about any day is now a good time for them to go to work.

The problem with porch pirates is only getting worse and there likely will not be a slowdown anytime soon. The reason for this is the acceptance of its existence and the somewhat lenient laws for offenders that still exist. For this reason, it’s important to know the steps to prevent porch piracy and what to do if it does occur.

In this Smart Start Money podcast episode, the problems with package delivery theft are discussed along with solutions and preventions.

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How Will Students Cope With Huge Amounts of College Debt?

People that have student loan debt have been coping with it the same way they have been for some time now. They have been dealing with it by taking decades to pay back student loans while putting their life on hold.

Large amounts of student loan debt are not uncommon today with the average around a little over $30,000 and 50k or more is not unusual. This has resulted in an average monthly student loan payment of $393. Moreover, this debt is now taking a bachelor's degree student over 21.1 years to pay it all off.

In this Smart Start Money podcast episode, I talk about how a growing number of college students are having to cope with a larger amount of school loan debt. 

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Why Can’t I Buy a New Car Online?

I recently purchased a new vehicle and like most buyers, I hate the traditional car dealer experience with trying to negotiate a fair deal. Researching the truck I was interested in purchasing, I looked for ways to limit the outdated annoying typical car sale experience. The long negotiation and waiting game at the dealership to get a fair deal was something I really tried to see if I could avoid.

With all the things people can buy online with the click of a mouse today, my initial idea to evade the conventional car sale experience at the dealership was to see if I could factory order a new automobile through the internet. To somewhat of a surprise I discovered this is not something that is possible. People can order prescription drugs, booze, and realistically just about anything by going to the internet.

Why can’t I factory order a new vehicle online directly from the manufacturer?

In this podcast episode, I talk about why a factory order from one of the popular automakers is not possible directly on the internet and how a buyer can still use technology to their advantage for a new car purchase. 

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What Is the Average Car Payment?

With the price of automobiles skyrocketing in the United States, it should not come as a surprise the average car payment for a new vehicle in 2021 is now $563. American drivers are increasingly becoming poor due to the need for transportation. Although auto loans are leaving many people with little money left at the end of the month, it is not just the initial cost of a car that is a problem. Record-high gasoline prices and maintenance costs are making car ownership increasingly a financial burden.

In this podcast episode, I talk about the average auto loan payment and why it is a problem.

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My Car Buying Experience in a Difficult Market - Part 2

In the previous podcast, I talked about my initial car buying experience in a difficult market. The pandemic has created a shortage of computer chips and inventory for new vehicles. Car dealers are trying to use the pandemic as an excuse to charge more for the vehicles they are selling. It is true that you might have to pay close to retail depending on the car you are looking to buy. Rebates and incentives are almost non-existent. However, you shouldn’t have to pay a large market adjustment price.

There are deals that exist for purchasing a new car even in this challenging market. You just need to be patient and do your research. Don’t believe everything you hear and particularly from your local car dealer.

In this podcast episode, I talk about the conclusion of my recent car buying experience.

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My Car Buying Experience in a Difficult Market

Buying a car right now in this market might not be the best idea. A shortage of inventory and computer chips is making it challenging for buyers to get transportation at a fair price. Car dealer incentives and rebates appear to almost not even exist.

Although it is a terrible time to purchase a new vehicle, I had to make the decision to do it. Car buying for most people is never a pleasant experience. My affection when it comes to shopping for transportation is no different. There is a reason car dealers and their salespeople have a bad reputation and I have found not much has changed with this since my last buying experience several years ago.

In this podcast episode, I talk about my recent car buying experience and how sellers are trying to use the pandemic to their advantage. Even though there might be a shortage of inventory for cars, it doesn’t mean you still can’t find one at a fair price. It might be a seller’s market when it comes to car buying right now but there are some tools buyers can use to still get a reasonable price.

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Economic and Political News: It No Longer Ever Seems to Be Transparent or Exactly the Truth

With the economic and political divide in America, listening to the news has become both annoying and often a waste of time. Politicians and media outlets never seem to be telling the entire story. Transparency is lost in Washington and journalism. Regardless of a person’s political beliefs, both sides are regularly reporting the news while omitting important details.

No one has all the answers for improving America socially and economically. This includes the media and politicians that repeatedly spin a story on how they want it to be perceived for their own benefit.

This Smart Start Money Podcast episode talks about how the media and Washington don’t report the actual news. They are regularly only informing America on their own version of it while excluding important details that do not fit the story they want to tell.

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