Listener Questions with Alex Benke, CFP® at Betterment
Jill on Money with Jill Schlesinger
Audacy
4.6 • 1.9K Ratings
🗓️ 23 March 2017
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We like to mix it up and try new things every now and then on “Better Off.” Earlier this month, for the first time, we featured one guest (Jason Zweig) on back-to-back episodes. This week, it’s another first for us, one that’s all about you guys, our awesome listeners. We’ve been getting so many email questions on a variety of topics we thought it would be a good idea to devote an entire episode to answering your questions. Sure, I could do this on my own but thought it would be much more fun to have a partner in crime, so I borrowed Alex Benke, CFP®, from our sponsor, Betterment. Betterment recently announced new service plans which offer access to a team of CFP® professionals and licensed financial experts to help customers with their more complicated financial issues. We’re borrowing a page from that model and answering your questions! We started off helping Stephen from Florida with retirement planning. Like many, Stephen feels he got a late start and wants to make sure he’s now on the right path. Howard from Atlanta is in pretty good shape with a nice chunk of money socked away, but he wanted a second opinion to see if there’s anything he could be doing better or if there’s something he should stop doing. Andrew from Illinois recently inherited retirement money after his father passed away. With the inheritance comes the responsibility of RMDs, taxes, etc. It can be a lot for someone to process so Alex and I were more than happy to lend a helping hand to Andrew. We finished up this episode with Peter in Michigan who finds himself in a common situation: He’s carrying piles of student loan debt, as in $200,000. Peter was wondering if it made more sense to increase his 401(k) contribution or put some extra cash toward the student loans? Here’s a tease...Alex and I had different opinions on this one. :) I hope you enjoyed this special episode. Who knows, maybe we’ll start doing it on a more regular basis. I’ve always found that people love hearing other people ask questions because chances are, they were wondering the same thing but were too afraid to ask. Don’t be afraid! If you have a question, email us at askjill@betteroffpodcast.com. “Better Off” is sponsored by Betterment. Please leave us a rating or review in iTunes. "Better Off" theme music is by Joel Goodman, www.joelgoodman.com. For a recap of every episode, visit https://www.betterment.com/resources/topics/inside-betterment/better-off-podcast/.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Better Off Podcast. Oh, we've got something so special this week. I'm so |
| 0:08.6 | excited because we have A a special guest but be a new format just for this show maybe if it goes |
| 0:17.5 | well we'll repeat it but this is the program that provides unconventional and entertaining insights on your money in life. |
| 0:25.0 | I'm Jill Schlesinger and Betteroff is sponsored by Betterment, the smarter way to invest your money. |
| 0:29.8 | So Mark and I have been grappling with just this amazing influx of people who want to get |
| 0:35.4 | on the air and we thought, well, you know, what would be great is just getting another |
| 0:39.8 | CFP with us to help answer questions. |
| 0:43.6 | So what do I do? |
| 0:44.6 | I talk to the guys at Betterman. |
| 0:46.5 | I'm like, got anyone over there who's a CFP who might be decent. |
| 0:51.0 | And lo and behold, here comes Alex Bankey you are not just a CFP you're like the |
| 0:57.6 | CFP extraordinary of betterment right yeah I like to say I have 220,000 clients, probably the most that have any CFP out there. |
| 1:06.3 | So how long have you been with Betterment? |
| 1:08.3 | I've been there about five years. |
| 1:09.8 | Oh, almost from the inception. |
| 1:11.6 | Almost from the inception, yes, the first CFP at betterment so how did you get into this were you a |
| 1:16.4 | CFP who was in a practice or how did you kind of get hooked up with betterment and what's your what |
| 1:22.4 | gives a little bit about your |
| 1:23.3 | past so my first true passion in my career was actually technology so I started my |
| 1:28.5 | career as a software engineer at jepi morgan and worked there in total about 10 years. |
| 1:34.0 | Along the way, became a CFP, joined my father's financial planning practice and did high net worth wealth advice for about a year. |
| 1:42.0 | Wait a minute, why just a year did you not like working with your father? Tell the truth. |
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