On this episode of How To Money, Matt and Joel discuss several financial stories that caught their eyes, from stimulus package confusion to debt repayment to whether it’s safe to travel or sit in a movie theater right now. But first, they talk about the “bike boom:” With parents desperate to get their kids out of doors, people less willing to take public transit, and fitness devotees unable to go to the gym, one billion dollars of sales in bikes and accessories were sold in April, up 75% from the previous year. In fact, because of supply chain issues, it might be hard to purchase a bike right now thanks to their newfound pandemic popularity.
50% of Americans don’t feel safe traveling by airplane right now, and though the U.S. global travel ban was lifted, many countries still aren’t letting us in due to the number of active cases we still have. However, if you’re in the half of Americans who wouldn’t mind flying right now, there are some great domestic travel deals. Be sure you’re ready to go, though; the guys warn us that airlines have been refusing to issue refunds to passengers, despite being legally obligated to pay them and having been awarded billions of dollars of stimulus money. Speaking of stimulus money, Congress left their session this summer without striking a deal over a second stimulus package. President Trump signed four executive orders for stimulus funding, but it just led to confusion, because he doesn’t have the authority to direct spending – Congress holds the purse strings – and there are legality questions, as well. They go over the executive orders anyway because it could be indicative of what the eventual package will say, which includes extended federal unemployment benefits, federal student loan payment suspensions, and an eviction moratorium.
One piece of good financial news is that many families are actually paying down their debt during this pandemic; household debt has declined for the first time in six years. The federal unemployment benefits and the one-time stimulus payment certainly helped, but mostly it’s because everyone has had to curtail their spending, with no leisure activities to go to. Fidelity Investments also reported record-breaking contributions to retirement funds. “It’s great to see people shoring up their finances during the pandemic,” Joel says, but he and Matt both hope that everyone keeps it up after the pandemic, too, so we’re all in a stronger place when the next challenge hits. Listen to the episode for all these financial insights and more on How To Money.
If you want to be sure you're listening to the podcasts everyone else is checking out, iHeartRadio has you covered. Every Monday, iHeartRadio releases a chart showing the most popular podcasts of the week. Stay up to date on what's trending by checking out the chart here. There's even a chart just for radio podcasts here, featuring all your favorite iHeartRadio personalities like Bobby Bones, Elvis Duran, Steve Harvey and dozens of others.
Photo: Getty Images