cover of episode Agree to Disagree with Andrei Jikh

Agree to Disagree with Andrei Jikh

2024/5/29
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George Kamel

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What's up, guys? George Kamel here, and I'm super excited because today I'm hanging out with the one and only Andre Jik. The I is silent, the H is silent, and as Lil Wayne once said, real Gs move in silence like lasagna. Inspiring. I love poetry. Now, Andre's one of the biggest personal finance YouTubers in the biz. His channel has over 2.3 million subscribers, and if that's not enough, he's an amazing magician. And today we're bringing back a popular segment called...

Agreed or disagreed? So we're going to talk about everything from the housing market to crypto. But before we get started, hit those like, subscribe, and share buttons so maybe one day I can have 2.3 million subscribers. A boy can dream. Make money!

Your dreams come true! Andre, welcome to the studio. Thanks for having me. Yeah, so, you know, we did our Millionaires in Cars getting coffee segment when we were out visiting you in Las Vegas, and now you're on our home turf. How much did people hate that episode? They hated it until you did the magic trick at the end, and then their minds were blown. So we'll have to do that again. It made you instantly likable.

Good. It reversed everything they thought about you. Good. Let's get into it. So a while back, we had Jaspreet from Minority Mindset along with Humphrey Yang, and we did this segment called Agree to Disagree, and it led to some great conversation. It's back by popular demand with you. Great. We're doing a little spin on this today. We're going to do Agree to Disagree Headlines Edition. Okay. So these are not things that I've said. These are things that the media has said, and you're going to tell me if you agree or disagree with the spirit of the headline. Love it.

Let's do it. Do you agree to play the game? I agree. Who am I to disagree? I travel the world to the seven seas. Everybody's looking for something. All right. That was so good. That was not planned. That was so good. We're just two guys who look like brothers from another mother. Brothers don't shake hands. Brothers gotta hug. Our first headline from USA Today...

Millennials want to retire by 60. Good luck with that. So agree or disagree that retirement is hopeless for millennials? Disagree? Disagree. We're off to a good start. Yeah. Why do you think it's still possible? I think if you get started early enough and you educate yourself about investing and compound interest and just understand that it's not about how much money you have and how much you save, it's how much you spend. Yeah.

And with enough time, I feel like anyone can retire within a certain amount of timeframe. So millennials are generally said to be born between 1980 and 2000, which I think puts both of us square in millennial. Yeah. What year were you? 89. Me too. No way. Are we the same person? We might be. Is this friendship? I think so. So this is good. I like this. If you're a millennial, that means you're between 20 and 40. So let's say you're on the tail end of that. You're 40 years old. You have nothing saved. Can you be a millennial?

Can you still retire by 60 within a 20-year span with nothing saved? I mean, I'd need to know more information as far as what that person's earning and what they're spending. But yeah, it's possible. But 20 years of investing, compound growth, staying out of debt. Yeah, 25 years if you want to retire by...

Well, 60, you said, so not 65. But 60 is possible if you save, what would it have to be? I don't know exactly the percentage, but... Well, you know, based on basic math, it's going to double every about seven years. Seven to ten, yeah. And seven to ten years. And so if you save up $100,000, it'll become $200,000. And seven years later, it becomes $400,000. And so to get a million dollars in a portfolio with little expenses, I think, you know, with Social Security...

As gravy on top. You can make that work. I can already see the comments. But in 20 years, a million dollars. Thank you. Thank you for that. That's exactly how I feel about all of you. I didn't do anything wrong. All right. Next headline. Five reasons Bitcoin is headed higher, whether you like it or not, said the Motley Fool via Yahoo Finance. So do you agree that Bitcoin is headed higher, whether we like it or not?

This is an I don't know. Oh, I like that. Yeah. That's an honest take. I have no idea. I said disagree, that it's headed higher whether we like it or not, because what if you do like it? Yeah, well, I think given enough...

time a long enough time horizon I think it is going to go higher but like short term I have no idea it could go down it could go up it can go sideways yeah yeah but 10 years from now I think it'll be worth more than where it's at today similar to real estate similar to gold real estate really anything I think Bitcoin's the fastest horse in the race against you know printing money and but horses die they do luckily Bitcoin's not a horse

Well, we'll see about that. What if it unzips one day and it's like, joke's on you guys. Joke's on you, that horse. I'm equestrian. Okay, here's the reason I disagree. Bitcoin, as we know it, isn't

I know it's finite, but it's not based on anything similar to a company. Like Apple is based on products, revenue. Bitcoin is sort of based on all of our collective agreement that we're going to go in on this. And so it wouldn't take much to cause a collapse of Bitcoin. Maybe there's fraud. Maybe, you know, who knows what could happen.

And so the idea of this is going to go higher regardless of what happens. There'll be dips, there'll be crashes. But I don't know. I just don't know that 10 years from now we'll still be talking about Bitcoin specifically. What has to happen to Bitcoin for people to lose faith in it? Because I would argue that Bitcoin's already lived through fire.

It's like, what more can happen to it? It's been forged by fire. Like, what more can happen to it to the point where people lose their faith? I just don't see it. You ready for the next headline? Let's do it. So here's an article from Coindesk from a quote from The Decoder. Here it is. Have fun staying poor. Here's the spirit of that, if you don't know. The new mantra of the crypto bro. It's a taunt. Call it a tantra. Is...

Crypto is going to always go up. Fiat currency will collapse along with the U.S. dollar and therefore have fun staying poor if you're not in on the crypto train. Right. Agree or disagree that you will be poor if you don't get in on the crypto train. I guess we'll have fun not staying poor. Oh!

What's your theory behind this? I think there's lots of ways to get wealthy. If you're invested, Bitcoin is just one of the things to do it. So in my portfolio, I love Bitcoin, but Bitcoin still represents like 10% of my net worth. As much as I love it, as much as I believe in it, there are things I don't know that I don't know. That's an honest take. And it's why you don't have 90%. I don't have 90%. Exactly. Even if I believe that there's truth in what they're saying, it could probably appreciate the most in 10 years. That's true.

But something could also happen to where we didn't anticipate for it to happen. And so I don't want to put all my eggs in one basket, no matter how much I love it. Yeah. And there's more than one ways to build wealth. So that's how I think about it. More than one ways to skin the wealth cat. That's what you always say. Yeah, always. But yeah, I'm with you on this. And I don't like the fear and aggression that there is toward wealth.

you know, the US dollar is going to collapse. And this whole like apocalyptic scenario, they're sorting, they're sort of trying to play up in order to get more people into crypto. It feels very MLME. It's funny because when I make my videos, it's interesting because I would sometimes clickbait the videos into that because people play into, and it's not something I'm

I believe it's just... We click out of fear. Well, it's also the media saying that, or it's some article that I read, and I'm like, oh, you know, your dollar is going to be worthless. And I'm not saying that. It's just I'm addressing that. And at the end, I'll say, no, the dollar is going to be fine. Okay. So usually we have the same conclusion. Your way of getting there might be a little different. We were like, have fun staying poor. That was a quote. It wasn't me, bro. Don't come at me. Yeah. That's the Andre way. That's right. That's a good book title for you. That's the Andre way. I get credit. I'll write the foreword. Please. All right.

You ready for this next one? Let's do it. Headline from CNET Money. Today's American dream is renting, not buying. And the spirit of the article goes on to say, you know, renting gives you a lot of flexibility and freedom. And a lot of people are, even if they have the cash to buy real estate, they're going to the renting angle. So agree or disagree that renting is better than buying and gives you more freedom. Okay. Okay.

We both disagree. We both, yeah. What's your take on this argument? Because I believe renting does give you, in the short term, more freedom, more flexibility. And if you're not in a financial spot to buy a house the right way, then renting is great. I have no qualms with renting. I totally agree. But a long-term wealth strategy to rent, I don't see that...

as a good move. I would want to see you own a home. So I was with you up to that point. I'll say right now is one of the few times in U.S. history where it makes more sense financially to rent, right? Because of the home prices, the market, interest rates. Home prices, everything. So rent, go for it. But long term, you said that it's a bad way. If you want to build wealth, you should probably buy a house. And I'd say, I don't know if I'll follow that logic there because I've met a

plenty of wealthy people who rent and like their entire thesis about life and wealth building is rent everything. They just want the freedom. They don't want to be bothered by anything. So again, maybe more than one way is to skin the wealth cat. Well, the way I look at it, rent could be double a few decades from now. So if your rent's two grand, it could be four grand. Your mortgage payment is fixed.

And I would encourage everyone to pay it off within 10 or 15 years. That's what we found in a millionaire study. Millionaires paid off their house in 10 years. People following the Ramsey plan paid it off in seven years. That gets rid of your largest fixed expense, which then allows you to build more wealth on the back end. I would say that's because it's a forced savings plan for most people that don't understand that there is a, you can also invest the savings that you would from renting. Because I imagine the place that you rent isn't necessarily the place that you want to

buy. You always buy up from where you rent. So you rent maybe for $2,000 a month, a place, and then the house you really want to buy is maybe $3,000. So you're increasing your expenses too. What most people don't realize is that by renting, it gives you obviously that flexibility, but by saving the difference in investing it over, say, a 20-year period, you're probably going to end up with more money than if you were to buy a house anyway. If you're doing the nerdy math on it. Yeah, exactly. Which...

Most people don't. Which is a hard thing to do. We don't know. We don't. At the end of the day, we don't know. We're just speculating here. Next headline is from U.S. News and World Report. So it's not just U.S. News. It's also the World Report. Yeah, yeah.

Why you shouldn't dump your brick and mortar bank. So they go on with a bunch of reasons, the value of having a physical bank in your life. Do you agree that it's wise to have a physical bank? I'm going to say agree that it's a good move to have a physical bank. I have no idea. What's your take?

Are you unbanked? Are you like a mattress guy? You know what? I don't really have an opinion on it. Oh. I don't know. I don't really go to my bank very often. So here's my stance. I think everyone should have a brick and mortar bank that they can go to when they need it. But having an online bank for a high yield savings account is a great move. And that's why we've partnered with our friends at Laurel Road.

So you can rest easy.

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don't like it. So help protect yourself from the risks of identity theft and online scams with our friends at Delete Me. Right now, you can get 20% off by going to joindeleteme.com slash george or just click the link in the description. Back to the headlines. Yeah. You nervous yet? It's shaking. Because it's cold. You're about to be. Actually, because it's actually kind of cold. This one's going to be what we call the biz controversial episode.

This is getting interesting. From financebuzz.com, 14 reasons married couples should keep separate bank accounts. Do you agree that married couples should keep separate bank accounts?

Oh, just a gut punch right there. Yeah. To make it clear to the audience, are you married? I'm not. So that's why I'm not really qualified to answer this question. What do you think about it? Hypothetically speaking. Hypothetically speaking, I think you can go either way. If it works for you, keep it together. Keep it together. If you want to keep it separate, the way my girlfriend and I, we keep them separate.

Which is good while you're dating. Sure. It's one less. Well, we've been together for a while, but it's one less issue I feel like that you need to figure out. And we're both on the same page about finances. So if we were to combine our money, I don't think I'd feel any different about it. I guess I'm kind of... Because the values are the same, the goals are the same, and this is a byproduct of that is how we do our banking. Exactly. So you're saying it's less important. Yeah. Okay. My first thought was...

Whoever wrote this article has been hurt. Yeah. You know, they came up with 14 reasons to keep it separate. Like, that's pretty aggressive. I don't think I can think of more than like three. I could not.

Here's my wife and I, we've had combined bank accounts and joint checking since we've been married, since day one, and it's been a blessing. Here's why. I think the accountability, the transparency, the trust, the communication that happens when we all have access to everything and there's not this like his and hers and like, well, that's my money and your money and that's your account.

It's just been so much easier to talk about money. We've had less money fights because it's all in one place. Yeah, but I also disagree with the notion that if you keep it separate, there's some cloak and dagger operation. No. If my girlfriend wants to look at my finances or what I'm spending, go for it. The thing is, we found as I take real calls on The Ramsey Show, it creates an environment

that's easier to commit this financial infidelity. So it's not saying that that's what's going to happen, but I think it creates the environment where it's easier to sort of brush things under a rug. And it's not always malicious, but I've found that you have so much more unity when there's just full connectivity. But could you say that it can also create issues if two people who are otherwise in love don't agree necessarily on how they want to spend their money, but they're both entitled to spend it the way they want to? They both make an income, so...

It's like, I don't want a say in this. And that doesn't make me irresponsible, right? I'm not a big spender. Well, my wife can spend her fun money however she wants. So I'm not looking over her shoulder and go, well, I disagree. You should have bought a purse. That's fair. And to be fair, my wife just stayed at home with our daughter. So she ended her nine-year career here at Ramsey and retired to be a full-time stay-at-home mom. So she doesn't provide an income.

And there's no difference in how we see money, what she gets and doesn't get. And I think that's where it really gets tricky when you have separate bank accounts and one spouse doesn't provide this much income or no income. I think it creates less resentment, guilt, animosity. Would you say it could still work if we're separate? I'm sure there's couples that are separate and have great marriages. So it's not to say you have a terrible marriage. But I think it will create more unity and you have a higher chance of success by doing it separately.

I could see that for most people, yeah. We got there. Yeah, you talked me into it. Glad we landed somewhere. Still not combining my finances. That's fine. You do what you want, Mr. Unmarried. Next one from CBS News Money Watch. Six reasons for seniors to add gold to their portfolios now. Sponsored by? Sponsored by a company that probably sells gold. That's right. So agree or disagree that seniors should be adding gold to their portfolios?

Just two young guys telling old people not to buy gold. Look at us. That's right. What's your take on gold these days as far as building wealth? Well, I don't own any personally, but I can see how gold could be a good use of if you're already wealthy and you're old and you want to put it into something maybe that's stable. But

If that was the issue, I think treasury bonds right now are way better. But you don't get to show off your treasury bonds on display. Yeah, but when you say gold, do you mean like physical gold bars? Well, that's true. You could be buying like the stock of gold, the gold ETF. Yeah, but I would say treasury bonds just make so much more sense, right?

So you're saying bad investment. Here's my thing with gold. I found that when the economy gets a little shakier, there's fear around it. We see gold being peddled by these fear mongers and people who have a vested interest in you buying gold. Right. That's the part that makes me run away fast. Now, Andre, before you go, we need your help. You are a YouTube expert.

You know how to title things. And so our team came up with some great titling options. Yeah. That I thought you could help us with. So you can just hold up your paddle. Okay. And agree or disagree based on the title. So you probably don't want to hold it up on the disagree side for the entire time. Okay. My Dinner with Andre. Based on the 1981 comedy. No. Jigs and Giggles. All right. We got one. Just for Jigs.

Jicks are for kids. That one sounds creepy. Yeah, that's a little weird. That's a good one. I don't like that one. Jicks pants none the richer. Jicks pants are none the richer? He's not a six pants none the richer fan. Kiss me. Oh, yeah, yeah. Been neat. Okay. Jick flicks. Jick flicks, I don't like that. Jick magnet. Oh, I like that. Jicky menage. Jick filet. Jick nugget. These are golden. Jicket to ride. Based on the Smash Board game, Ticket to Ride.

Involving trains. Unlimited soup, salad, and bread jicks. That's a stretch, even for me. I like breadsticks. Jiggle ball, based on the hit game Pickleball. Huh. The Ballad of Jicky Bobby. And, a nod to Dave, Andre Leadership. I quit. That was...

Awesome. Well, Andre, that was fun and also not fun, if you know what I mean. Huh? The titles, not the hang with you. But thank you for playing along. It's great hanging out with you. Where can people find you? Likewise. You can find me on YouTube and my name, first name, last name. Well, it's always fun hanging with you. I'll see you again in Vegas.

Pleasure. Doing business with you. All right. I hope you all enjoyed this video as much as we enjoyed making it. Huge thanks to Andre for playing along and hanging out with us today. And if you liked this video, please check out the first time we ever played Agree to Disagree with my friend Despreet from Minority Mindset and Humphrey Yang. It is absolutely worth a click and I'll drop a link in the description below as well. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.