Discover how seemingly simple financial habits can create monumental impacts on one’s financial journey. Angie and Jim share personal stories that illustrate the essence of distinguishing between immediate and long-term rewards, illustrated through Jim’s anecdotes about understanding wealth perception. From saving pizza money to investing in stocks, get inspired by real-life examples of how honorably navigating your financial pathways can lead to unimagined successes—along with crucial information on vehicle safety recalls that keep your driving safe and sound.
Welcome to The Good News with Angie Austin. Now, with The Good News, here’s Angie.
SPEAKER 06 :
Hey there, it’s Angie Austin and Jim Stovall with the good news. And we’re talking about income and principle. His winner’s wisdom column this week. Hey there, friend. Hey, good to be with you as always. Oh, something cool happened. I know you love sports. And one of my daughter’s teammates broke the Colorado record set in 1975, both the girls and boys record for all time rebounds. I know I can’t remember how many it was, but it was pretty cool. Yeah, she is going to UCLA, and her sister’s already playing there, so they’ll both get to play together next year. I’m definitely going to take my daughter out to watch her.
SPEAKER 08 :
That is cool. Yeah, it’s fun, whether it’s a game or a season or a career record, just to watch it. You feel like you’re a part of some kind of history, you know, and it’s really amazing. So that is really neat.
SPEAKER 06 :
I know we thought back, we’re like, We’re like, wow. So I’m assuming since you beat the boys and the girls record, you know, and that’s four years of high school on varsity, that’s going to be there, that record, for a long time. I would certainly think so, yeah. Yeah, I think so, too. All right, so let’s talk income and principle. What are you teaching us this week?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, I, more than anything, am in the message business and giving people meaningful messages and that you can literally and physically take to the bank. And, you know, I think a lot of people, when we talk about success, they recognize there’s a lot of elements of it. But the easiest one to measure is often financial. And success leaves clues. And it’s fairly simple to follow the leader. But it’s important to not take advice from anybody that doesn’t have what you want, or take directions from somebody who hasn’t been where you want to go. Well, you know, one of the things I see in all the studies of millionaires, you know, originally in the book The Millionaire Next Door, and most recently the syndicated radio guy Dave Ramsey did one of the largest surveys ever of self-made millionaires, and I got to actually participate in that one. And the interesting thing is they understand the difference between between income and principal or capital and return. They understand the difference. And a lot of people don’t. And all you need to do is look at farmers. They’ve gotten this for thousands of years. Farmers understand this. You plant corn, you get a harvest of corn. And the first thing you do is you don’t eat the corn or sell the corn. The first thing you do is set aside the best part of your crop, and that is your seed for next year. And if you eat your seed corn, you’ve got nothing left. But if you keep a part of it, you can be growing corn forever. And I always used to tell my investment clients, it’s like if you own a cow, you can have beef once or milk forever. And it depends on which one you want to do. And so people that set aside a certain portion of their income… and realize that is now principle. Leave that alone. It will be there for the rest of your life and your kid’s life, and it will just continue to provide dividends or interest for you.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, and it gets to a point where the interest can – you can survive off of it if you keep doing it long enough.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, I have been fortunate in my career to earn a very comfortable living, to say the least, but it has been probably – For the last at least 15 years, my money earns more money than I do. Oh, that’s funny. And I can’t even get close to it. It just keeps going. And most people understand compounding when it comes to their credit card. They open that statement every month. How can I possibly owe that much money? Well, if you get on the other side of the equation and the numbers are working for you instead of the credit card company, You open the statement and you say, how is it possible we have that much money? And that’s when you look at other things you can do in significance and giving and, you know, it’s a real purpose to make a difference. But in order to do that, you’ve got to understand the difference. And, you know, some people think all money is equal and it’s all there just to be spent. And if you do that, you will run out of corn and you will run out of money and you won’t have any seeds to plant. And, you know, and if you butcher your cow, you won’t have any milk. And so it’s really important to set aside that money every month. And, you know, our government figured that out almost 100 years ago when they started collecting income tax. They realized, hold it, if we’re going to take part of Angie’s income in a tax, we can’t wait until the end of the year because some of these people aren’t going to have income. money at the end of the year. So they grab theirs right when you get it. Well, they actually grab it before you get it, and they know they’re getting paid. Well, if you pay your taxes that way, why shouldn’t we just pay ourselves that way? And, you know, you can just talk to your bank, your brokerage firm, and a little chunk of that will automatically come out, and it will go right over into your investment account. And I promise you, you will not miss it. When I got in the brokerage business, and I’ve shared this with you before, Angie, I was very young, I was in my 20s, and I contacted my brother and I said, look, you are setting up a retirement plan. Sign here and $40 a week is coming out. $40 a week, $2,000 a year. And you won’t even think about it. It’ll be gone. Don’t open any of the mail. I’ll take care of everything. Just do it. And he did it. And it was like 17 years later. He goes into his bank, and he’s in the construction business, and he needed a half-million-dollar insurance bond to bond the project he was doing to guarantee completion. And he went to his banker and says, can you write me a half-million-dollar bond? And the banker said, well, I can if you want to, but why wouldn’t you just bond it yourself? And he said, well, I don’t have a half-million in cash. He said, sure you do. It’s right over here in your investment account. And that little $40 a week, I mean, I’m talking pizza money. had turned into a half million dollars, and that was a number of years ago. It’s considerably larger than that now. And not anything magnificent, $40 a week going into a stock market index fund, an S&P index that you can get from any broker or any discount, anybody, the S&P index fund, no bells, no whistles, no nothing. And this is just not that hard to do if you actually set it aside and do it. But a lot of people are waiting for their ship to come in, and they never sent one out. And they’re waiting for seeds to grow, and they didn’t plant anything. They ate it. And so that’s kind of the message for today. And I really, really hope it’s one of those messages, if you get it and forget it, somewhere down the line you will be so pleasantly surprised.
SPEAKER 06 :
You know, I think that it’s that thing that’s so hard to teach so many people, and I see it with a lot of the younger generation, some of the people that work with my husband, that delayed gratification, that they want to have the two-bedroom apartment now. And I’m like, well, why? I lived in Marina Del Rey, but I got a single, you know, so my kitchen and bedroom and living room, they were all in one room. But I lived in a safe place. And so it was really safe. And there were a lot of people that had a fair amount of money living around me. And so I felt comfortable there. But I had a single, like the cheapest possible place that I could get. So wanting to have a two-bedroom when you’re younger or live in the fancy complex. Or I want to be safe, but it doesn’t have to be fancy. Nicest building, cheapest apartment. And then cars. Like I remember I had like, you know, I remember when I was driving to NBC, I had this Buick that I would drive. And we had like a nickname for it. We called it at the station. It was something horrible, right? Because it was an old Buick. But then I was able to get a really good deal on a Porsche 911 convertible, you know, used, but really good deal. Like I could sell it today for what I paid for it. Probably more actually. But… um, you know, so I bought that use, but I delayed gratification. Like I drove crummy cars until I got that, or like a little Ford Tacoma pickup truck. Yes, of course, in my twenties in LA, I wanted to have a convertible red Porsche, but I waited until I could pay cash for it. And that I already had bought, you know, my condo, you know, um, on the beach, like things that would actually really get me my money back, you know, the investment of property. So, I think that a lot of people can’t wait. They want to have that fancy stuff when they’re young. Now I couldn’t care less if I had a Porsche. My favorite investment is real estate because you can live in it and enjoy it at the same time while you’re building wealth. You’re enjoying this home that you’re living in, so that’s my favorite investment. But that delayed gratification, people can’t wait to get the fancy thing.
SPEAKER 08 :
Oh, yeah, and most people have wealth. If you sit down with them and talk for a few minutes, they’ll tell you about one of their stories. And they invariably have a car. Crystal and I had a car, a Pontiac Le Mans. It was 10 years old. I paid $350 for it, and I overpaid. And it was famously known as the Green Dog. And we have put the Green Dog in several of my books and things and speeches over the years. And now people want to know, can we come by and see the green dog? Well, thankfully we got rid of it years ago, but we saved up and we wanted a Mercedes and we paid cash for it. And, you know, and it was a used one and we kept it 10 years, Angie, and then sold it for what we had paid for it. And then, you know, bought another one and another one. And, and, But like you, we have found real estate is one of the most fun things to invest in because you live in this thing, and it’s a wonderful thing. But just setting aside a little tiny piece and putting your seed corn back and making sure you’ve got something to grow for you in the future is really an amazing concept.
SPEAKER 06 :
You know, it’s interesting that, I don’t know if I told you, we had this rental or loaner car that we were all embarrassed by. I mean, I have to admit, even I was. I didn’t really want to drive it to drop the kids off at the high school. I thought it was funny because they wanted me to drop them off, like, around the side or whatever when we had this loaner. It was a green van. We called it the Green Goblin. So similar, what did you say yours was the Green Dog? The Green Dog, yeah. Oh, I know we called the blue one. I don’t know why we called it the Chicken Hawk because it’s so funny. I don’t know the dumbest name, but it wasn’t like a beautiful name, like you’d name a red convertible Porsche, right? But yeah, it’s interesting too that kids view each other according to wealth in high school when it’s not their wealth. They’ll be like, oh, she’s rich. I’m like, no, she’s not. Her parents are. And I know that that kind of rubs off on you because you get to go to better schools and hang out with kids who are also from families with wealthy kids. they still judge each other by what they think each other has, when it has nothing to do with them or any of their accomplishments. It’s like, you’re not rich, your parents are rich. It’s weird to me how, and I remember being poor in high school and one of my classmates, his dad owned the factory where my mom worked. So we had an Oldsmobile or a Buick or something. And then I did buy my own car because I worked full time, but he had a Mercedes. And I remember thinking when I’d walk into school, like his dad owned my mom’s factory where she worked, you know, but I got better grades than he did. And I, you know, and I felt I felt I never I know a lot of kids feel less than, but I certainly didn’t. You know, I mean, they probably viewed me that way, but I didn’t feel like I didn’t have like a future or a chance. But I think a lot of kids do. It rubs off on them. So if they’re poor, they think like they’re less than these other kids. It’s kind of a shame.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, yeah, and the only opinion that matters is the one you have of yourself. Everybody else is just wasting time. And, you know, these people that, you know, I… I remember when I was starting out in business and I told my father, I’m going to be an entrepreneur. I’m not going to get a job. And he said, we’ll come back and I’ll give you some. I thought dad was going to give me $50,000 or some get started. And he said, I’m going to give you the greatest gift. He said, you won’t know it for a while, but I’m going to give you the certain knowledge that if you ever get anything in this life, you got it on your own. Cause I’m not giving you a dime. And wow, I was let down there, but now I’m really, you know, I, What we have, you know, we were very blessed to get on our own. And, you know, like you said, a lot of young people, they live off their parents. Nothing wrong with that. But, hey, you woke up on third. Don’t get confused and think you hit a triple here. You didn’t. And at some point, you know, you’ve got to get out of the nest and fly on your own. And then it’s kind of sad, you know, unfortunately. And so, you know, I think… depriving kids of having an old car, or you need that summer job that’s really just a horrible job. For me, it was digging post holes and washing dishes in an Italian restaurant and all these things I had to do. which, man, you’ve got hours to work hard and think, okay, I’ve got to do something better with my life. And it makes a huge difference because you have something to compare it to. Everything in life has value to us based on what you had to give up to get it. And for me, I knew how many days I had to work in the hot sun to get enough money to buy this thing. It wasn’t just go ask mom and dad for it. It really has no value. It doesn’t cost you anything. And I think as early as you can… If you can equate value with work to your kids, like how many lawns did I have to mow to get the money for that? Then it starts to become real to them.
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SPEAKER 04 :
Bomar is listening to the mighty 670 KLTT Denver.
SPEAKER 06 :
Hey, it’s the Good News with Angie Austin. If you were just joining us, Angie here. Well, do you ever get something in the mail or you’ve gotten a phone call or maybe it’s a voicemail that says your car is on recall for a part or an issue in general? It’s so important. You can get in touch with them right away. Well, how do you know for sure? That’s what I always think. Like, I don’t want to be conned, but I want my car to be safe. I’ve got three teenagers, six pets and grand grand and my husband. Like, I’m driving all over the place. Well, if you actually want to know if your car is on open recall, there is a surefire way to know, and it’s safe, and we have an expert to help us today. Joining us, Alex Ansley, Division Chief of Recall Management with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Welcome, Alex. Hi, Angie.
SPEAKER 07 :
Welcome. Good morning, and happy Vehicle Safety Recalls Week.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, happy safety vehicle recalls week. I better get you a card. All right. So let’s talk a little bit about, you know, this week and why it’s important because I read a couple of scams I have to run by you that are like ridiculously hysterical, but people fall for these. So let’s talk about this week.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, absolutely. So it’s Vehicle Safety Recalls Week. So every week in March, we hold this week to really emphasize that this is the time of the year, if you’re going to do it once a year, this is that time of year to go check to see if your vehicle has an open safety recall. And we make it very, very easy. We have a great website at NHTSA.gov. And you can enter either your license plate or your VIN number, which is your vehicle identification number, And the website will immediately tell you if your vehicle is impacted by an open safety recall.
SPEAKER 06 :
I know a lot of people, like I know my mom would be like, oh, I can’t afford it, Bob. But when it’s on a recall, this isn’t something you’re paying for. This is something they want to fix so you’re safe.
SPEAKER 07 :
Absolutely. Safety recalls are free. So they are free repairs. And the dealer will not pressure you into buying or paying for it at all. It’s completely free. It doesn’t matter how old your vehicle is. If it has an open safety recall, that repair is free.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, and so when you go to the website, give us that website again. I want to make sure people get this several times.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, it’s NHTSA.gov slash recalls.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. NHTSA.gov slash recalls. And I know what Gran Gran’s going to say to me. Well, how do I get my van? And where is that? Do I have to call someone to get my van? Like for somebody that doesn’t know, where are the specific locations where you can often easily find your van on the car?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, for Gran Gran, it might be easier to use the license plate because that’s just easier. But if you’re looking for the VIN number, it’s usually located in two locations. So it can be on the lower part of the windshield, kind of just past the steering wheel at the very bottom of the windshield. It can also be on a sticker inside the door jam. But usually how I find my VIN number, I’d go do a search through my email. I just search for VIN, V-I-N, and then I can usually find my VIN number on an insurance document. or a registration document at some point in the past.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right.
SPEAKER 07 :
But that’s usually how I do it.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. And I take, I, my eyes aren’t as great as they used to be. So I take a photo of the sticker that’s in the door and then I can blow it up so I can look at it more closely, but right. It’s always on your registration, et cetera. So I love your idea of searching for VIN in your email. All right. So if you, okay. So I’ve confirmed it. I’ve got the robo call i’ve gotten something in the mail and those are a scam right some guy knocked on my door right and said oh hey i can do this in your driveway and get it fixed no no no this we want to have service like professionally want this done right so where do we go from finding out oh yeah it is on recall
SPEAKER 07 :
So once you find out that your vehicle is impacted by a safety recall, and you might get a letter in the mail from the manufacturer. They do have to send letters in the mail. But once you find out that your vehicle is impacted, we ask you to take the time to call your local dealership and schedule that recall repair. And so that’s a free repair. Like I said, they’re not going to pressure you into paying for it. But the dealerships are the ones that are authorized to perform those repairs. So whoever your local dealership is, they can get you on the schedule and get the vehicle fixed. And if you don’t know who that is, we recommend reaching out to your vehicle manufacturer and finding out what you need to do to get that schedule on the appointment.
SPEAKER 06 :
Now, I understand that a recall doesn’t expire per se, but they may not offer repairs for like older vehicles or like how long can you wait? Like I think of my son, his car’s in the shop right now. He just bought a 25-year-old Lexus. Like it’s a Tony Soprano lowered like Christopher mold. You know, I’m talking about that one, that one black Lexus and Sopranos. Right. And he got the Sopranos plates. Right. But oh, my goodness. Like this thing is always going in. So let’s say he checks and he finds out there was something like 20 years ago. Sometimes can the free part of the repair expire if you wait too long?
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, no. If the vehicle has an open recall, the repair does not technically expire. They might have to do something else. Maybe they don’t have the parts for it anymore, so they have to figure out something else. But the recall itself does not expire.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, that’s good to know. Okay, great, great.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay, now in terms of what… But still, we still want to urge everybody to go get those scheduled as soon as possible, right? Don’t wait 25 years if you can’t help it.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right. Especially if it’s like one of these airbag deals, like the reason my son got this car is because someone ran a red light and totaled his car and, you know, surgeries and this, that, the other. OK, so if you have an airbag issue like he survived probably because of that. So if it’s something that’s going to impact the safety of you or your family, like do not put this on hold, like even rent a car, get a loan or whatever, like get it fixed.
SPEAKER 07 :
Absolutely. And those airbag recalls, especially the Takata airbag recalls, some of the biggest, most complex in history, those are so important. Those get more dangerous with age. So, yeah, if you have an open airbag recall in your vehicle, please get that scheduled, that repair scheduled as quickly as possible.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, it’s funny that you mentioned the Takata airbag because I was reading on Reddit because I was just checking out, you know, recalls and scams and this, that, and the other because I’ve gotten so many emails and, you know, robocalls. And this question says, and I won’t mention a model of the car, but does this, you know, dealer have a team of recall specialists going door to door? I have a vehicle with a Takata airbag, and I got a door hanger on my door with a car stating that there are recall specialists there. Their email address is not a valid web address. You know, I looked it up and it’s not even a website. He says he’ll come to my house and change out the inflator in my driveway. Is this legit? I mean, are you kidding me?
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, Angie, it’s complex. There are scams out there, certainly. But with the Dakota airbags, that actually might be an honest offer. because the manufacturers are going to extreme lengths to get those vehicles fixed. So what we recommend is if you have a listener that questions whether or not they’re being scammed or whether it’s a real legitimate offer, we recommend to reach out to that manufacturer, whether it’s a Honda or a GM or a Ford, whoever it is, reach out to their customer service line and find out if that is a legitimate offer. They’ll let you know from their customer service team whether it’s legitimate and whether you can take them up on it.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, my gosh, he did an update. I wouldn’t have believed this. He said, I called my Nissan dealership. Oh, no, I said it was Nissan. And the guy that I knew in the service department said it was legit. Yeah, you’re right, because they want these people to get these things fixed and not mess around. All right, so if someone’s listening today, in a nutshell, tell us what you want us to know and what we should do, because we might not know if we have a recall.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, the biggest thing you can do today, the biggest takeaway, is to go search your VIN number or your license plate. on NHTSA.gov slash recalls and find out if you have an open safety recall. And if you do, schedule that free repair. It’s really quick, it’s easy, and most importantly, it’s free. So that’s the biggest takeaway from today.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right, so one more thing that I always like to ask people why they do what they do. I just think it’s interesting how I got into TV news and then radio or what my next career is going to be. How did you get into this area of expertise?
SPEAKER 07 :
So I had a little bit of automotive experience before coming to the government. But here in the government, we have such a tangible mission. We get to see our work product every single day impacting millions of users, millions of people that own vehicles that need to get their vehicles fixed. And so we get to see our work every single day in the press, you guys covering our work, disseminating that information out so people know about safety recalls and they know how important they are and how important that free repair is. So yeah, we were very, very lucky that we work in a space where we get to see that work product and we get to see the benefit for everyday Americans. It’s very cool.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. And what was this Cash for Clunkers program you worked on? What’s this all about? Oh my goodness, that’s a blast from the past.
SPEAKER 04 :
What is it?
SPEAKER 07 :
That was a program back in, I know, that was a program, goodness gracious, like maybe 15, 16 years ago. Okay, okay. That program was to trade in older vehicles that were less fuel efficient for newer vehicles, more fuel efficient and safer vehicles. And so there was a credit that you could receive for trading in your older vehicle. And that credit would be applied for the purchase of a new vehicle at the dealership. And so that was a really, really big program. We distributed millions of dollars across the nation. And that was a big program. But goodness, yeah, that was back in, I think, 2009. Right.
SPEAKER 06 :
So like Gran Gran could have like traded in her Oldsmobile or the giant Buick.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, absolutely. The older, less fuel-efficient, less safe vehicle for a newer, more efficient, safer vehicle. Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes, I love that. Well, certainly if you change careers, you can get into radio. You’ve got the definite radio voice. So give us that website one more time, Alex.
SPEAKER 07 :
Absolutely. It’s NHTSA.gov slash recalls. And use your license plate number or your VIN number and go find out if your vehicle has an open safety recall.
SPEAKER 06 :
And one more thing I want to ask you, is there anything that like if people get a call or this or that, that they definitely, you know, please don’t contact like the information you get on a voicemail or that you get on your door in a letter? Because sometimes that can lead you down the wrong path.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, you definitely want to be careful. There are certainly scams out there, but you never want to divulge too much personal information. And if you’re ever questioning whether or not something is legitimate, we recommend just reach out directly to the manufacturer. Don’t wait for somebody to call you, but reach out directly to the Ford or the Nissan or the Toyota, whoever it is. Reach out to them and ask the questions that you want answered and get those repairs scheduled through them. And that’s how you can make sure that it’s legitimate.
SPEAKER 06 :
Awesome. It must be fulfilling to know that like probably just today you saved a life just being on the radio with me. You know what I mean? Like you’re getting people to get out there and stay safe. So thanks for all you’re doing to help protect others, to help protect us.
SPEAKER 07 :
Absolutely. Thanks, Angie.
SPEAKER 06 :
You bet. Well, it’s always good to get that great information that keeps us safe. Interestingly enough, I was just reading an article that mentioned my car that I bought last year, and that I think it might be on the recall list, but I haven’t gotten anything yet, so I’m going to go on the website myself. and figure out if my car has an open recall on it right now. I have to take it in for something anyway. Did I tell you that my friend’s daughter backed into my car? Yeah, so I’ve got to go get a new bumper. Well, I was in the driveway. Well, I wasn’t. The car was… No one was in it. Let’s put it that way. All right, so shall we… Just say thank you so much for listening to the good news. Anytime you have ideas for the program, you can go to AngieAustin.org and you can shoot me an email. And also, just another thank you for supporting us and for ARC. ARC is a huge supporter of us and I’m a huge supporter of them. ARCthrift.com if you want to get additional information. really shopping with a purpose, helping others by making your purchases. I’m actually going with my son today. He works there and he gets his employee discount. He likes to go and shop for things on his day off because that’s what he does. He has a business where he does thrift and he really believes in the, uh, He loves working with the ambassadors, the differently abled ambassadors with cognitive deficits. Some of them may have Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, whatever it may be. They’re just such wonderful co-workers and so full of joy and so fun for him to work with. And also just getting to work with the public and working for an organization that is helping so many others also feels really good, he told me. So another company he worked for wanted him back, and he’s like, No, I really like working for Lloyd and with all the ambassadors, and I feel like we’re making a difference. So please support them, and thank you for supporting us. This is The Good News with Angie Austin. Have a great day.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you for listening to The Good News with Angie Austin on AM670 KLTT.
SPEAKER 02 :
The Good News with Angie Austin is sponsored by The Good News with Angie Austin.
SPEAKER 01 :
This is KLTT Commerce City, Denver, broadcasting in HD digital radio and online at 670KLTT.com.
