State of the Union, Government Waste & Your Retirement

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Any examples used are for illustrative purposes [00:00:02] Speaker B: only and do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs and may not be suitable for all investors. It is not intended to predict the performance of any specific investment and is not a solicitation or recommendation of any investment strategy. [00:00:18] Speaker C: This is another Money Show. Get set for another hour of the latest financial information and economic news affecting your bottom line. J.R. and Anthony are committed to helping more Americans like you optimize their inc. Reduce their tax risk and reach financial freedom. So let's start the show. Here are your hosts, Anthony Correio and JR Rochford. [00:00:42] Speaker D: Here we are, your hosts Anthony Correjo and JR Rochford taking a break from our day to day as financial advisors with Rochford and Associates, a fully independent fourth generation family office right here in the greater Phoenix area to bring information you may not find on those other financial radio shows where we're the last thing you need is another money show. But we appreciate you being here and we are here on a special day today. We've moved it up to record on Wednesday, February 25, which is JR's birthday. So feel free to reach out and wish him a happy birthday. [00:01:18] Speaker A: Is that. Yeah, Do I have to talk? I have to talk on my birthday. This is preposterous. One and only Sam Davis. I'm here with two of my boys. The other two don't care about my birthday apparently. So welcome to our show today. There's a lot going on as usual, whether it's my birthday or not. We never get any rest around here. Why don't we knock out the shout outs first? Quick shout out. We had a guy named Mark who emailed us. Apparently he drives on Saturdays midday and he hears the show. He said he likes it the way it is. So we had another person that reached out and said no matter what we do, he'll keep listening. He gave me a little bit of trouble about not having Anthony talk enough. So today I'm going to try to get Anthony to talk a little bit more. The weekly shout outs. I mean, you know who you are if you support us. Michael C got a couple articles this week. One was on China versus Space X in a race for AI data centers in space. I probably won't get to that, Michael, because we have so much going on on this planet. But if I do, thank you for the article. And Kevin, every week I feel like Kevin is my personal life coach when it comes to the radio show because we, yeah, he, he gives me feedback from the beginning to the end of the show every single Saturday. So thank you for being there. It will already have passed by the time you hear this, but yesterday or two days ago, depending on when you hear this, I'm going back on Joe Jaquent show. So I'll be with Jason and Joe on Thursday the 26th. And today, as Anthony said, as we record is the 25th of February, we're all messed up here on time. So we moved up a day early. So a show on current events, if we're even one day early, that could be detrimental to us. I'm thinking by the time you hear this, we'll know more about Iran and whether or not we're going to clamp down on them. So we'll see what happens. Last night, I'll hit a couple of things up. Last night was the State of the Union address. We don't need to dig in it too far because I know I heard a lot of radio today and every single station was given their take on it. I'm reluctant to ask, but Anthony or Sam, did either of you watch or listen to the State of the Union address? [00:03:40] Speaker D: Then he said that he thinks he's gonna die and talked about new retirement programs. [00:03:46] Speaker A: Did you hear it, any of it, or did you watch it? [00:03:48] Speaker D: No. [00:03:49] Speaker A: And you know, both of you are getting the age. You're both in your mid thirt, so you're at the age where you need to really see what's going on in the country because everything going on is going to affect you. So Sam, I love. [00:04:00] Speaker D: How are you going to change your lifestyle with those effects? [00:04:04] Speaker A: Communication, people need to start talking. We are so polarized about it. [00:04:09] Speaker D: Not get anything done is everything to you. [00:04:11] Speaker A: Yeah, you're the crotchety old man. You're the curmudgeon. It's not me. It's not always complaining just because you're working stuff out and you're trying to talk to people. I have people that I talk to that are on different levels and on different sides of the aisle. And I mean, sometimes I do feel better that at least we're still talking. I will tell you without digging in it too much, I'll give you a couple, you know, things that were important to me. I mean, one, the number one thing of importance to me was before it even started. So think back just a few weeks ago to the Super Bowl. There was the halftime show during the super bowl and then there was the alternate TP USA halftime show. Last night. I learned, and I didn't know this until shortly before the State of The Union. There was a alternate State of the Union address. I keep telling you, we are heading towards a nation divided. You know, she said, we're going to have a national divorce. There's nothing that makes me think that's not how this ends. I mean, last night, knowing that there were two State of the Union addresses, that's interesting. You know, I'm from Arizona. I noticed that three of our representatives didn't even show up. So who was it? Yasmin Ansari. I don't even know who that is. Adelita Grijalva and Senator Ruben Gallegos. They didn't even show up. Apparently over 70 members of Congress boycotted and didn't show up. So that's how you're going to solve problems. We're just going to keep burying it. We're going to. We're going to. But anyway, to have two different state of unions competing against each other, that's not healthy for the country. Almost said company, which it is too. So I don't know, I just. I think we're going the wrong way faster and faster. Obviously during the State of the Union, which neither of you have answered me yet, but I don't believe you watched it. During it, watching who stood up and gave applause and who remained seating. Yeah, exactly. Sam's doing the thumbs down. It's like two year olds. We need to be adults. So many people are on their cell phone. I don't know if they just zoomed in on the Democratic side of the aisle, but man, it was crazy watching people on their cell phones, I mean, looking down at their laps while the President of the United States was talking. They were, I don't know, maybe they were playing Angry Birds or whatever they play on their cell phones. So it says here from Sam, how brave of them to stand and clap. You know, standing, clapping. They should have a centralized uniform idea what they're going to do. I'd prefer nobody stood up during it. Just shut up and listen. Let's make this thing take a little less time. It started at 7, so he became. He started talking about 10 after 7. It didn't get done until 9. So by the time it was over, I'm like, you know, a lot of that could have been condensed. Sam wants to see a PowerPoint presentation. Like behind him. We need to have cartoons and stuff. We need to have something more interesting for the average viewer. So anyway, a lot of cell phones, let's see, I saw on one attendee, there was a pin that showed Trump as Pinocchio with a long Nose said liar, liar. There were a bunch of pins that said release the files. So we get that, what that means. I have a feeling the Epstein files, since it's such a mystery, I have a feeling it's on both sides of the aisle. I have a feeling we shouldn't focus on right or left. We should focus on haves versus have nots on that one. But that's just me. There was one pin that I found extremely disturb and Anthony, I don't want to hear it if you're going to bring up freedom of speech. I mean, in this chamber there should be adults, there should be decorum, there shouldn't be profanity. I'm sorry, maybe. Maybe we're both old curmudgeons. The pin was on Rashida Tlaib. You know, look it up online, you'll see it. I'll use the word F instead of the forward. It just, it was a round pin and it said F ice. Two words, F ice. So you know what I mean. I don't know. I think a lot of people need to figure out where they'll be happy on the planet. Maybe it's not this country if they hate it so much, but I found that bad. Let's see here. Democratic response. I watched that afterwards. Governor Abigail Spanberger, that, that was funny because she made a lot of good points. And then I realized who she was. I've heard her talk before. She wants to raise taxes on the middle class. Don't let her fool you kids. The couple things that I will tie in financially. One of the things Trump brought up, the trumpaccounts.gov that's where little newborn babies will get a thousand bucks. So what did I call it a few months ago, Anthony? The Trump baby bump. So we're going to give money to kids. If private corporations like banks and so forth, Amazon, whoever is going to put money in those accounts, I'm all for it. If families can afford to add to it, I'm all for it. If the government can afford is going to put a penny into it, I'm against that. I'm tired of the reckless spending when we have 38.7 trillion of debt and we are going to tip even if we don't tip because you know, we go forever before it ever tips. The rest of the world is going to help us tip. It's coming. So I don't like that. Anthony, you sent me an article. It was behind a payroll and I didn't have time this morning to look for others. But you, you were correct. There's a, let's see here. A new Trump is allowing access to a retirement plan like the federal workers have. And here we go again with the spending. So I mean, I'm fiscally conservative and I just don't like this. It's an opportunity for, I guess what, 50, 50 million people in this country to get, to get a forum that don't have access to one. [00:09:47] Speaker D: So there's nothing stopping them from funding their own Roth IRA or traditional ira. That was the part I didn't understand. As if you, you don't have an employer sponsored plan, you, there's nothing stopping you from getting your own now. And they [00:10:03] Speaker A: call Anthony and Junior. We will help you with your own plan. Whether it's Roth ira, whether it's a deductible IRA because you're in a high tax bracket, whether it's non qualified, we will help you. So, and where I got stopped, I, when I'm listening to that, I'm like, holy cow, is anybody who, with an R or a D behind their name ever going to stop offering free money? But, so this thing, the federal type plan, they're going to match up to $1,000. Don't do me any favors. You know, you're, you're going to, you're offering people free stuff. It's like playing the violin while the Titanic's getting ready to sink. Enough of the spending. I need to move on. That's more time than I meant to spend on that. And my personal thought, you guys are at the age where you need to know everything you can because it's going to affect your future. Anthony, you are shameless. You. Sam, you may go now. Anthony, you do a radio show. You need to be a sponge like me so we can talk back and forth and we can articulate what we saw. So you need to start being like me and looking at more news and less comedians and music. Okay, okay. Stepfather. I got it. Let's move on. The big story this, this week so far, at least on Sunday, Monday and now it'll fizzle out by Wednesday. Mexico. We, we have a client slash friend who lives in. I don't want to say specifically where she lives. Well, why not? Nobody knows who she is. She lives in Ajijic. It's probably, it's called Ajijic, which I love the name. So she's in one of the areas that had some lockdown activity. She said she's fine. She said that, you know, the government told the stores they have to close, so she feels bad for small business. But she, she feels safe. So that's, that's a good thing. So cartels, I mean, my understanding is like there's over six and I don't know how they calculate things. You know, is there a survey? But there's over 600,000 cartel members currently in the United States. That's the number I've heard, 600,000. So, I mean, if Sam wants to know if there's a census for cartel members, there probably is. So it's in English and Spanish and Canadian. What are the Canadians, where they speak, what is Trump called the snow Mexicans. This is a crazy world. Anyway, so Mexico, they were under fire because one of the main cartel bosses, El Mencho, was taken out on Sunday. Apparently 25 plus Mexican National Guard troops have been killed. So is it already dying down? Is it going to get worse? Is it going to come over here? I don't know. Yet to be seen. My take on how I bring it financially, I've had people over the almost 30 years that I've been in my job that have said if they had more money, they would move to Belize or Aruba or Ajijic or somewhere in the world other than the United States. I think in the future there will be nowhere to hide. I think if we have a financial structure that gets stressed enough or cracks or breaks or whatnot, you're not going to be safe anywhere. The next global event is going to be just that. When the United States has the next 2008, which should be the scope of 2000 and 2008 combined, when that gets here, I don't believe you're going to be safe in Aruba or Belize or Ajijic. I don't think you'd be safe anywhere. So as I'm watching the helicopters and the buses on fire and the vehicles on fire, I just started thinking the world is going to look like Venezuela one day. Aren't I half full for my birthday? And by the way, it's my birthday today, so why should I be stressed out about Mexico or anything else I shouldn't. Anthony sent me something yesterday. I'm switching gears right away. Here's my segue. Anthony sent me something yesterday and I was so proud of you, Anthony. I'm mad at you for not watching the State of the Union address, but I'm very happy. Did you? Apparently yesterday you put on a tinfoil hat. You sent me stuff on the Bohemian Club. Is that, Was that new to you? Had you ever heard of that before? [00:14:13] Speaker D: No, of course not. Super. Yeah, everybody knows about that, but I Liked what it was is the Instagram account the more Perfect Union, because they've got a lot of really short like documentaries and news stories that actually get in depth on some of these things. And I found it interesting. So, no, I didn't care about the Bohemian Grove. I was just sharing that account. [00:14:36] Speaker A: Gotcha. Well, and I did listen to it. It was, it was lengthy. I think it was like a half an hour long. But it was at the end of the day, I was working on the outline for the show, so I, I did watch it. There was nothing I got out of it that I didn't know. I mean, you know, we, the mainstream media, they tell us what they want us to know about. We've never, until recently, we've never heard much about the World Economic Forum. You know, we've known forever about the Bilderberg Group, Davos. You know, you guys last week said you, you'd never heard of the Munich Security Group, you know, the, the something new, the Board of Peace. So this, this Bohemian Club, I mean, it's interesting only in that nobody really knows what goes on there. I know Alex Jones breached it years ago. There have been some employees, you know, that have, have said some stuff is weird there. The bottom line, if you look up Bohemian Club, it's another group of them versus you. When I always say that you better stop looking at red versus blue, gay versus straight, black versus white, tall versus short. You better start looking at them versus you. There is nothing left in this country or the world that is more important than what's going on with the haves versus the have nots. These ridiculous rich people not looking at you. Bill Gates, allegedly. Because I know you're a listener, but I mean, you people want to play God. You, you people, it's just, it's insane. So if, if you're flying in your private jet, I wonder what Greta thinks about people that go to WTF goes to the Bahamian Grove once a year. You ridiculous people. You, you don't want me to drive an suv, but you're going to go around the world and meet and solve all the rich people world problems on your jet? You know, you know what I think of you. So I just, I, when you said that to me, I was like, wow, maybe Anthony is looking for stuff to be more awake and aware of what's going on underneath things. Because the world's a very small place. Should we move on? Which we. Why don't we do this? What kind of time are we looking at Sam? I think I'm going to knock out the Festivus report right away. Today I'm only going to do one because I don't. This one's, this one's pretty short. Let's see here. Amount, waste. Oh, if you're new with us, I'll tell you we're reading from Rand Paul's Festivus report that he puts out every December. And it's, it's just reckless ways that our government is using our tax dollars to do ridiculous things. Here's another example. Oh, we got plenty of time. So amount wasted on this one is $6.9 million. The Department of Health and Human Services awarded $6.9 million to the University of Buella in Cameroon. How are my tax dollars ending up in Cameroon? The only thing I like about Bulla in Cameroon. I really am a fan of the word Cameroon. So Cameroon to create something called the Data Science center for the Study of Surgery, Injury and Equity in Africa. An entity that doesn't actually perform surgery. That's cool. If that sounds like the United States is funding surgeons, operating rooms, training, equipment, anesthesia or trauma care, think again. We paid for algorithms. The project, sorry to laugh, is a five year academic partnership across multiple countries in Africa to study surgical equity using big data data constrained approaches, clustering algorithms and machine learning trauma follow up prediction. Kevin, are you listening? We need to talk about some of these words. Let's see here. It is a multinational paperwork farm built to analyze surveys and run computer models about injuries rather than treating them. As an eye surgeon. This is Rand Paul talking. As an eye surgeon, I appreciate innovation, I really do. But innovation is not a substitute for care. And none of this money funds a single surgery, a single instrument or a single hour of treatment for anyone. So $7 million out our, you know what, going to Cameroon, cross that one off and I never have to look at that again. Let's get right into the articles because in the second half I really am going to ask Anthony to work with me and talk today. So I'm kind of excited about that. I have asked Anthony to pick a couple stories or articles or something that is important to him and I want to, you know, I mean if listeners reach out to us and they give us feedback, we are going to honor it. So if you want more, Anthony, all you have to do is ask. So let's get back to Michael C. In Sun City. He, he sent me an article from Fox News on the 24th of this year. It was just yesterday. So it says here America has a very expensive promises problem and the bill is Coming due. I thought this was a good piggyback to our show last week when we talked about the soon to be upcoming demise of Social Security system and subsequently Medicare and Medicaid. By the way, just, you know, they're all somewhat tied together. Let's see here. This is from Fox news on the 24th. Every four years Americans fall in love with a fantasy. A new president will change the federal deficit. Republicans promise growth will outrun the debt. Democrats promise taxes on the rich will fix it. And the US Debt clock, by the way, if you're we haven't talked about that in a while. Make sure you do a little Internet search on Alor's Internet and look for the US debt clock.org website. It's pretty fascinating. So the US debt clock keeps spinning like a Vegas slot machine that only pays out in red ink. Oo, that's a scary slot machine. As of 2026, the United States owes roughly 38.5 trillion. Oh, this article is is way behind. It's actually 38.7 trillion guys at Fox and it's climbing at about $8 billion per day. The net interest payments on the debt officially exceeded our annual defense budget. We're not arguing politics anymore. We're arguing arithmetic. And I, I did go on debt clock as I read this. I went on there yesterday. Our Medicare and Medicaid spending is 1.9 trillion. Our Social Security spending 1.6 trillion. The third line item of our spending as a nation is on the interest on the debt. And it's right under 1 trillion. It's currently at 990 billion. Billion with a B. Sounds so small. Last week I got to use the word what is it? Quadrillion. What is it? Quadrillion. Got to say that word for the first time. Coming up on our another money show in future years we'll get to familiarize yourself with how many zeros that bad boy has. And then the fourth largest expenditure at only 930 billion with a B is defense spending. So a couple more things from this article. No State of the Union message Republican or Democrat in can outgrow a compounding interest bill this large. That is true. Our choice is tip. That's our choice. Our choice is let the BRICS nations do it for us or we just let it tip now and go to our central bank digital currency. Let's see here. Last fiscal year government spent 7.1 trillion. Government collected only 5.23 trillion. To erase the deficit you would need one of the following. You would need to raise taxes roughly 35%. Think about top tax rate going from 37% to 50%. And remember, almost half of the people in America do not pay federal taxes whatsoever or you would need to cut benefits massively, which really means one of the big three. Medicare, Social Security or defense. Or you need to grow the economy at wartime levels for at least a decade. Hey writers over Fox, you know what I think not baloney. You need to do one of those. You need to do all three and it's still going to tip. It's too late so we're not going to fix it. Aren't I a little ray of sunshine on my birthday? Here's the uncomfortable truth we all need to face. America does have a policy problem, but more importantly, America has a promises problem. Nobody wants to sacrifice anything. And when you're in debt, something has to be sacrificed to get out of debt. So we shall see how it plays out. And you know what I feel bad for? I feel bad for you, Sam and you, Anthony and Nick and Jay and younger people because you are going to see how it plays out. With that said, we only have like two minutes before we must get to break time. So I will ask you to do us a huge favor. This one's a big one. We crossed over the 450,000 views mark be it was like the 8th of February. Shelby sent me a little thing today saying we've got almost a half of a million views on our videos and shorts. So I'm going to ask you if you would help us. Please go to YouTube and look up another money show. Most of you know how it works. We would be honored if you would like our videos and our shorts. If, if you would subscribe, we would be honored. We've only got about 670 subscribers. But think about that. When you're a little tiny YouTube channel with only 670 subscribers and you've got almost a half a million views, that's huge. So we're on our way. We keep growing. Thank you so much for supporting us. Reach out to us on the other part of this. We would love to meet you. We would love to hear your show ideas. We would love to hear your feedback. If you want more Anthony or less Anthony if you want us to continue the show after March, we need to hear all that. We're at 623-523-0444. Again, we're at 623-523-0444 or you can email teamnothermoneyshow.com teamothermoneyshow.com we will be right back. Thank you so much for being with us. [00:25:42] Speaker C: Thanks for listening to another money show. If you like what you're hearing, be sure to leave us a rating and subscribe to the show. Wherever you listen to podcasts. [00:25:56] Speaker B: With news headlines about recessions flipping from imminent to unlikely almost weekly, a lot of individuals are left wondering, how do I prepare my money for whatever 2026 throws at us? I'm Jim Taraboak here for the Retirement Radio Network powered by Amerilife. Recession talk is back for 2026, not screaming from every headline but lingering in the background with odds that aren't zero. And honestly, that's okay. The good news? You don't need a crystal ball. You just need to be prepared. HerMoney.com CEO Gene Chatsky outlines the signs to watch for when a recession is looming. [00:26:31] Speaker A: Keep an eye on unemployment. We'll look at consumer spending. Consumers often lose confidence. The tricky part about a recession is that we could be in one already and not know it. [00:26:42] Speaker B: Financial experts say the first step to being prepared is surprisingly simple. Get clear on what you actually need, not what fear is telling you. Start by building or topping off an emergency fund that covers three to six months of living expenses. Perhaps consider a high yield savings or money market account so your safety net is actually growing. Next, pick a budgeting system you'll stick with, whether that's the old school envelope method, a spreadsheet or even an app. And finally, how to configure your financial portfolio and investment strategy in uncertain times. CNN senior business writer Gene Shahadi explains a key component you want to be [00:27:19] Speaker A: really diversified in your portfolio, meaning between stocks and bonds, between sectors of the economy. You can't predict what's going to do well and what's not going to do well. A diversified portfolio where you have some stocks, some bonds. They will probably perform differently. [00:27:31] Speaker B: Whether it's covering the basics, making easy cuts, redirecting that money to high interest debt. The people who come through economic uncertainty best aren't the ones who panic. They're the ones who plan calmly, live a little bit below their means and keep investing anyway. A well built budget doesn't just protect you from a recession, it gives you freedom no matter what the economy might do. Small steps now, big piece of mind later. For the Retirement Radio Network powered by Amerilife, I'm Jim Tarabakia. [00:27:59] Speaker C: Welcome back to another money show. To schedule your free, no obligation consultation with JR and Anthony, visit anothermoneyshow.com or call 623-523-0444. [00:28:15] Speaker A: Welcome back to another money show. Thank you so much for being with us. As you know, we're a little tiny fish in a big, huge pond and we greatly appreciate your support. As I asked before the break, we really. We would love you to go to YouTube, check out Anthony's shorts. It's very impressive. We would love you to meet us. We'd like to be a second opinion on your finances. If you just want to meet us and talk about the world, we'll do that. So. Yeah, I know, I know. In the day and age of big wirehouses and the pressure and the quotas and the blue suit, white shirt, red tie, highly polished shoe, world of finances, we're a different animal. We have an office dog, for Pete's sake. So we have a dog. If it's a new appointment, we always ask if you're okay with dogs. If not, the office dog does not come in. But, yeah, we have a dog that hangs out in the office. How's he doing, Anthony? He cut himself or he scratched himself yesterday. Yeah, okay. [00:29:08] Speaker D: Seems to be healing up all right. It looks weird, but he's not messing with it. I got some wound cleaner for it, so. Seems fine. But you don't bother him. That little idiot. Nothing phases him. He's like me. Everything will be okay. He doesn't worry. [00:29:23] Speaker B: I don't worry. [00:29:24] Speaker A: Well, there's been times where dogs have itched themselves. There's been times when dogs got hurt. You just have to adapt. So let's do a couple articles and then, Anthony, you and I get to chat about the world. I want to get into something just because I think it was last week's show. It was either last week or two weeks ago. It was two weeks ago. I have my own answer here. It was on the 12th of February. So don't forget, if you want to hear this, you can find us wherever you find podcasts. We're on Spotify and Google and Amazon. You can go to our websites. It's easy to find. Just do an Internet search. But I talked about politicians behaving badly and I talked about Kamala Harris buying, like, I don't remember what was $8 million house, you know, on the coastline, when she's saying how we're all going to be underwater and she's going to have appliances in her house that she wanted to ban for you, so. And then I brought up Jasmine Crockett. That's, you know, he's talking about Trump spending, and apparently she got caught spending 120 grand on personal Stuff. Well, here's a new one and this one's right here in Arizona. So. And before I tell you who it is, because I know you're eagerly awaiting the name of who in Arizona doing shenanigans. Are we ever going to get sick of our representatives? Are we ever going to get tired of them doing hypocritical baloney? Are we ever going to get. Are we going to clean house ever? I mean, are we ever going to stop this red versus Blue bull crap and. And really hold the thems accountable? I mean, I'm guessing. No. I'm guessing, you know, the. The golden rule. The ones that have the gold make the rule, you know, so. Exactly. Sam. Sam said someone should drain the swamp. There's a swamp in every state. I have a feeling there's a swamp in D.C. that's bigger than them all. So, yeah, I mean, it's just. It's disgusting what happens with these people. So let's get right into it. Apparently, Kirsten Sinema, Anthony, you remember her. She was one of our elected representatives in Arizona. Kind of good looking. Can I say that or is that a weird thing to say? And as I remember, I always wanted to hear her talk more because I like looking at. I used to mute the TV. I didn't actually listen to her. I mute the TV and just watch her. I'm not allowed within 500 yards of Kirsten Cinema, apparently. Anyway, so I found this on the 19th of February. Went all the way to Tucson to find it. I found it in the Tucson Sentinel on the 19th Cinema. Accused of illegally spending $700,000 in campaign funds on personal expenses. So here we go. A campaign watchdog group has accused former U.S. senator Kirsten Sinema of illegally spending more than $700,000 in campaign cash on personal expenses, including on luxury hotel rooms, concert tickets and fancy meals. Speaker of the haves versus the have nots. I wish I had 700 grand to blow on that stuff. In a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission, Campaign Legal center says Sinema spent the money in 2025 after she left the US Senate in violation of the Federal Election Campaign Acts prohibition on personal use of campaign funds. Ms. Sinema converted over $700,000 in campaign funds to personal use during the 2025 after leaving the Senate by spending it on travel, lodging, meals, staff salaries and other expenses that were unrelated to any campaign or political activity. Campaign Legal center wrote in its complaint. I'm reading from this Tucson center so Sentinel article, so hopefully this isn't slanderous or defamation of characterist. On my part. I'm just. I. All I do is I pick up stuff and I read it. So I guess I don't have to say the word allegedly because I did find it in three different sources. Let's see here. The complaint also questions nearly 109,000 paid to Matthew Ammel for security services. A lawsuit that AML's estranged wife filed accuses Sinema of seducing her married bodyguard. And the Campaign Legal Center's complaint argues payments made to aml along with the. With many of the security, event and travel expenses may reflect a personal relationship rather than legitimate services. So that gets more into the personal side. I did read all about that. That piqued my interest. So apparently there's a civil complaint pending on that. See here. The center also wants FEC to look into more than 230,000 in travel expenses ranging from Uber rides to stays at luxury hotels in London, Berlin, Jackson Hole and the Hamptons. What. What is she doing? She stopped running. She wasn't going to be a center anymore and she's in Berlin and, and I don't. I'm not sure if I understand that, but I don't think my, My donations or taxpayer fund or any kind of other people's money should be used for that. There was nearly 20,000 spent on meals, including a 1,300 dinner at Hyde, a Michelin starred restaurant in London, according to the complaint. There was also 34,000 in expenditures for office supplies and 8,000 for Apple products, products that CLC says don't serve any campaign purpose, according to the Campaign Legal Center. Read just one more line of this. Let's see here. Just weeks before she left office. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics. It's hard to read that with a straight face. The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed its own FEC complaint alleging Sinema spent more than 100,000 in campaign funds on personal travel after announcing in March 2024 that she wouldn't seek reelection. A year earlier, a Democrat aligned PAC called change for Arizona 2024 filed a complaint alleging Cinema had used campaign funds dating back to 2019 to bankroll luxury hotels, private jets, limos, Michelin starred restaurants and international travel. Are we ever angry enough if we're awake or if we care? Are we ever mad enough at these politicians, these representatives, these officials? This is just dumb. And then the very last thing here for you. Cinema did not immediately respond to a request for comment. No kidding, Sherlock. So, Cinema, if you're listening, don't sue me. I. I guess I will say the word allegedly. But shame on you. So enough is enough. Let me get to one more article and then I will get Anthony involved. I've really built you up, Anthony. I hope you have something smart, articulate. I don't intelligent to say. I know. That's why this is going to be fun. I'm just kidding. I always say Anthony is not only the eye candy of the office, he's the smart one. So if you think you, if you think you hate him now, would you meet him Christmas vacation? If you think you hate it now, let's see here. Bloomberg. Let's switch gears. Let's do some Financial Bloomberg on the 18th of February. I actually had this ready for last week, but we ran out of time. Blue Owl Redemptions on private. I'm sorry. Blue Owl halts Redemptions on private credit Retail fund Blue Owl Capital said it will restrict withdrawals from one of its retail focused private credit funds. The New York based alternative investment firm said that the investors in Blue owl Capital Corp. 2, known as OBDC2, sounds like a football player. Who's your favorite receiver? OBDC2 will no longer be able to redeem shares on a quarterly basis. Instead, the fund will return capital through periodic distributions funded by loan repayments, asset sales or other transactions. Yeah, okay, you're telling me everybody's going to get every penny of their money back. Guarantee it for me. Why aren't you letting them take it out quarterly? They have to rely on your sales. They have to. You have to cherry pick what you're going to sell to give me back my money. So I don't know. We've run into this over the years. We have a lot of clients who they want to make more return than they can in regular ETFs and mutual funds and stocks and bonds. So they look for alternative assets. The big one's been REITs. Real invasive real Estate Investment Trust. [00:38:31] Speaker D: Real Invasive investments. [00:38:34] Speaker A: It's like a colonoscopy for your wallet. So. [00:38:37] Speaker D: So another one that I've never actually seen pay out. Well, obviously they keep selling, keep people keep buying them. Someone's doing them successfully, I guess. But all the clients we have that have REITs hate them. And same with the be your own bank thing. We've talked that about it on the show. But people sell them. People swear by them. I've yet to see it work and [00:38:58] Speaker A: Sam put on the board that it's antidotal, but in his experience they are not favorable either. He said the word suck, but I'm not crude enough to say that word. So Sam said they're not favorable. Yeah, no, we, we've seen some bad stuff. You know, I, I, There was a thing called the Red Door Group in Phoenix. This is going back 15, 20 years ago, and we stopped a client from putting in a couple hundred thousand dollars and they closed their doors. The Red Door closed shortly after we stopped her from doing this. She didn't understand it. We looked into it and the returns at that time were too good to be true. In our estimation. My dad and I, we're looking at these like 14% returns and nobody else was giving that kind of return. We're like, we don't think you should do it. We think you should do a good fixed insurance product where you might not get that kind of return, but you're not going to lose your money. And so she was thankful after that that she didn't lose her money. I have a little bit of concern. I'll be careful how I say this because I'm going to mention the company's name. I'm not convinced yet that why Refi is the best idea for people. You got to lock your money up for 10 years, you know, to maximize that money. There's different lengths of time. I'm not convinced. We have a newer friend slash client who has vetted and verified and said he is very happy with it. It focuses on the healthcare field. He said that he is convinced it's okay. So I am, I am accepting that, that his, his, you know, research is, is proven good. But I'm still, I want to see how it pans out with, with that particular company. [00:40:23] Speaker D: It's funny, I was literally looking up why Refi right now because that was the first thing that I thought of when we were talking about this because it's been a long time since we've talked about REITs. But yeah, he, he swears by it. He's a highly educated man. So, I mean, I get, I get the appeal. I kind of get some of the stuff on the books, but there's a lot of stuff that still worries me. [00:40:45] Speaker A: But yes. And if you're ultra wealthy, if you're an accredited investor, if you have more assets than not, things like private capital, private equity, red door groups, and why Refi is different, you know, companies, that's probably, it's okay. If you lose, you know, 250,000, you lose a half a million, you lose a million too. It may not affect your future. My experience in almost three decades as a financial services representative is the wrong people are the ones getting burned. It's people that go to wire refi with $50,000 that only have $200,000 to their name. You know, moderation and diversification is the key to your financial life. So if you put money in Blue Owl and you're ultra wealthy, this might not be. It's a nothing burger for you. But if you're most normal people with assets anywhere from zero to say, let's say, let's say 2 million, you know, I mean, I think once you get between 2 million and 5 million, you can take more chances, you have more choices, you have more things you can do and still remain within the umbrella of diversification and moderation. But most people are swinging for the fences. I did something I don't usually do. Instead of just going to the mainstream articles on Blue Owl, I went to Reddit. I did that on purpose because I knew today was the day I interact with Anthony a little bit more. So I went to one of the news sources that Anthony cites things from periodically called Reddit. Reddit is open to all of us. It seems to be geared toward younger people in my estimation, it seems to be geared toward people that are cynical. And I'm giving sweeping generalizations on this. But just in my experience of reading, and I love reading the comments because that's where I get more insight on who's on Reddit. A lot of people are not. They don't like baby boomers, they don't like corporations, they don't like anything except themselves. That's a little bit of what I got from Reddit. And again, I'm, I'm slamming it, but there's a lot of good stuff on Reddit. Here is what I got on Blue Owl. So, and this tells you that Reddit is legitimate and it gives you some good stuff because this is a nice [00:42:50] Speaker D: links to other sites. There's cnn, there's msnbc, there's everything on Reddit. It's a community where people can post their own opinions or a lot of times it's just people linking stories from other sites on there. [00:43:04] Speaker A: Okay, which makes sense. And I have seen that. I have seen, I've seen links to like the, you know, WhiteHouse.gov site. And I've, I've seen what you're saying, so I like that. And again, where the richness is on Reddit is definitely the comments. But let me read what this Reddit, I guess you call it a sub stacker. I don't know what you call it. This Reddit contributor put Blue Owl permanently halts redemptions at private credit fund aimed at retail investors. Private credit group Blue Hour will permanently restrict investors from withdrawing their cash from its inaugural private retail debt fund, backtracking from an earlier plan to reopen its redemptions this quarter. The New York investment group on Wednesday said investors in Blue Owl Capital Corp. 2 would no longer be able to redeem their investments in quarterly intervals, but that the company would instead return investors capital in an episodic payments as it sells down assets in coming quarters and years. What if I want my money now? The decision underlines the risks facing retail investors who have plowed hundreds of billions of dollars into funds with limited liquidity rights. The company said the fund intends to prioritize delivering liquidity ratably to all shareholders holders orders shareholders through quarterly return of capital distributions, which are intended to replace future okay, blah blah blah. Blue Owl's announcement came as part of a $1.4 billion sale of credit assets across three of its funds, including 600 million for its retail credit fund. The sale amounts to $0.3 I'm sorry, 30% of its total assets, which will be distributed to investors. Okay, here's and I won't take too much time on this, but here's the problem. Actually, let me read the very first two comments I got to hear. That's a horrible sign for private credit markets. Hope things don't go 2008 like from here the next one. These operations are basically Ponzi schemes. There is no time horizon where all redemptions can be honored because they simply can't. My thing have you ever heard the term Anthony Canary in the coal mine? Is that a term you've heard? Is this the beginning of the next 2008? You Anthony brought up within the last year, year and a half that that I think it's the Trump administration wants to allow things like these kind of holdings into our 401ks. They want us to be able to buy Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in our 401ks. You want to talk about dangerous? I know we both were on the same page on that one and we both thought it wasn't good for unsavvy investors in their 401k that generally sign up for the 401k six months after they're employed. They put things in the target date retirement 50 fund and they never ever change the allocations. That's the people you want having Blue owl in their 401. So guess I'm getting kind of heated about this, but what I'm getting at is here we go again. I'm pretty sure the people that administer Blue Owl, pretty sure the people that wear a suit are going to get their money. Pretty sure they're pretty wealthy. Pretty sure they'll be okay. But I'm pretty sure the average mom and pop investor that put money into that OBDC2 or whatever it is, pretty sure they're the ones who are going to get hurt. Once again, had you heard of Blue [00:46:39] Speaker D: eye oil, Blue oil, Blue Owl until this? Because I had never heard of it before. [00:46:44] Speaker A: Heard of a pain relief thing called Blue Emu. So apparently emus and owls can deal with pain in different ways. I had not. I had heard about it from Johnny Bravo, one of my favorite YouTubers. He does a daily YouTube and he's pretty on top of things. So I heard it from Johnny Bravo a couple weeks ago and the first thing I did was pause his video and I went online. And so, no, this is two weeks old to me. But it's. Is this indicative of what's coming? Are we getting ready for another? [00:47:15] Speaker D: I think this is small and I think things like this come and go all the time and people make a big deal of it and people lose a lot of money and it'll be the wrong people that lose a lot of money and then that's gonna be it and then we'll never hear this story again. [00:47:33] Speaker A: So we are on the same page that the wrong people will lose money. I don't know. The only reason that I'm not sure I agree with you on the part that this won't grow bigger is because Jamie Dimon has chimed in. And Jamie Dimon, you know, who recently has been talking about when you see one cockroach, there are more. And he's basically saying that things are really, really off and we might have some problems. So I don't know. I hope you are correct, but I'm not sure. [00:48:01] Speaker D: That's been this whole show for four years. Of course, there's these things that are problems and issues. So is this the catalyst? I doubt it. Is this just one of many? Probably, [00:48:12] Speaker A: yeah. I mean, we, we will see. And my thing, you know, another famous expression, the straw that. What is it? The straw that broke the camel's back. All of this stuff we bring you every week for four years now. It, it, it comes and it goes. Our attention span is that of a gnat. But it's all adding up. When we started the show, we did not have 38.7 trillion in debt. We did not have fed. Now we did not have Maduro in New York or wherever the Heck, he is now. We didn't have all this. We did not have an alternate super bowl halftime show or a State of the Union alternative show. So it's all piling on and I think it's all going the wrong direction. What should you do about it? Pay down debt. Make sure you, you do your finances. Keeping in mind moderation and diversification. You should probably look at some hard assets as part of your portfolio. And I'm talking hard assets, not just gold and silver, not just land, farms, rentals, passive income properties. I'm also talking about guns and ammo. I'm talking about natural medicines, maybe antibiotics. I'm talking about alcohol and tobacco. I did have a few people text me last week that said, you know, you talked about the banks are likely to fail. And I mean, I said it's more in a coin toss if you ask me. The banks have no money. The derivatives, the scope of the derivatives is balloon to where it's probably going to pop. So I just think if you add two and two together and you keep getting five, something's wrong. So I brought up alcohol and tobacco. I think people who don't even drink or smoke should have 500,000. 500,000. They should have $500 worth of cigarettes under their bed, keep them dry, keep them cool, put them in your freezer, in the garage, whatever. Not because you're going to start smoking when the world ends. Although you might, you should also have alcohol because we really, really might go the way of Venezuela. And unless you're ultra wealthy and you have a ton of precious metals, you might need something that you can trade your neighbors for. So if they're a smoker, a pack a day, average smoker, and they haven't been able to buy a pack of cigarettes in a month, they believe me, they're going to be. They're going to welcome the sight of that pack of Marlboro Reds. As they say in Pulp Fiction, the Red Apples. So. And yes, even if they're old, even if they're stale, they still work. They actually burn a little bit hotter and faster. So as a ex smoker who slipped a few times and found old cigarettes in my truck, you know, quite a bit after I quit smoking, they're still pretty good. They'll still give you one heck of a rush and a buzz. [00:50:45] Speaker D: Do you know what movie Red Apple Cigarettes was also in? Is it Red Red Apple or Bad Apple? [00:50:51] Speaker A: They said Red Apple in Pulp Fiction. [00:50:53] Speaker D: Okay, so it's Red Apple is the Tarantino movies. But do you know what else it was in. No, there's a massive billboard for it in Romeo and Michelle's High School reunion. [00:51:03] Speaker A: Really? [00:51:04] Speaker D: Yeah. Because I guess Tarantino was dating the one that's not Lisa Kudrow, star of that movie. [00:51:10] Speaker A: Courtney Cox. [00:51:11] Speaker D: Not Courtney Cox. [00:51:12] Speaker A: I don't know. I don't remember. [00:51:13] Speaker D: So he said a few things and then kind of dropped out. I think that was a part of the thing. That's not going to be a name you recognize, Kirsten. [00:51:21] Speaker A: Cinema. Cinema. Yeah. [00:51:25] Speaker D: Anyways, now you know Quentin Tarantino. Romeo and Michelle live in the Quentin Tarantino universe. [00:51:30] Speaker A: I love Quentin Tarantino. Talk about a alternate mind. Outside the box, so. Oh, my gosh, you're kidding. Sam said we only have three minutes left. Anthony, what's important to you? You have the. You have the rest of the three minutes. What's going on? [00:51:44] Speaker D: Oh, well, two of those minutes is usually to do our closeout, but the. Did you read the Chicago Sun Times article I sent you about the guy got 115 grand snatched from the DEA in 2019 and just got it back? Yeah, so? And it was because he was selling gold. So he sold gold, made a bunch of money, carried in cash. Now, is that a little sketchy? Yeah, of course, but. And we talk about freedom in this country. The fact that civil forfeitures are still a thing and is in direct violation of the Fourth Amendment, you can just have the government steal your money with no crime being committed is absolutely insane. So I know there's all kinds of stories, but we talk about gold and silver and having hard assets all the time. And then you see something like this, and it's like, well, within reason. I mean, it's. That stuff scares me. [00:52:38] Speaker A: It's not illegal to have money. It's not illegal. [00:52:43] Speaker D: That's the scary part. [00:52:44] Speaker A: Doesn't that scare you? Doesn't that scare people 100% when you go to the bank? I still. I've got to get a friend of ours on the show to tell a story about his mom having trouble getting money from the bank. And it got escalated. I'll try to get him on next week. [00:52:58] Speaker D: We know you're listening to this show now, so you know who you are. Be on the show next week with us, because I want to hear that story. Jer gave me his tidbits, but I want to hear it from you. [00:53:07] Speaker A: Yeah, she wanted her money, and they said no. They said, you have to make an appointment. She's like, I don't want to make an appointment. I want my money. You see it on the screen, you know I have it, I want it and it got escalated and I want him to tell the story because it's not illegal. [00:53:19] Speaker D: Have cash at home before it gets to that point where you actually need cash at home because you will not be able to get your cash at home. But anyways, that's it for today's show. If you like what you heard, you have questions about any of the topics today, or you want to wish Junior a happy birthday or if you want to sit down with us to review your financial purse, your personal, you would think after all the years of doing this, I would know. In fact, I have the paper in front of me and I can't even do that correctly. So it doesn't matter. We'[email protected] Find us on the web anothermoneyshow.com Again, you can reach us from the site. You can give us a call. 623-523-0444. That number again is 623-52304. You'll probably get to talk to Macy. She's wonderful. You'll like her more than you like us. Remember, if you do want to sit with us, there's no minimums, there's no cost for appointments. There's really nothing to lose by getting a second opinion on your financial situation. We'll see you again next Saturday at noon and at 5am right here on 9 60. The Patriots. [00:54:21] Speaker C: Thanks for listening to another money show. You deserve to work with a private one wealth management firm that will strategically work to protect your hard earned assets. To schedule your free no obligation consultation, visit anothermoneyshow.com investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management LLC. BCM. A registered investment advisor, BCM and Rochford Financial are independent of each other. Insurance products and services are not offered through BCM but are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed agents. Investments involve risk and unless otherwise stated, are not not guaranteed. Past performance cannot be used as an indicator to determine future results. [00:55:00] Speaker A: Hi, I'm JR Ratchford, host of another Money show. If you've heard our show, you know it's about current events and how they're going to affect your finances and your future. What I see time and time again is people afraid of outliving their retirement assets. I've also seen the kids key to a happy retirement and that's good steady income. Folks with good steady income tend to be much happier and believe it or not, healthier. Stop worrying so much about your assets that come and go. With almost 30 years in the financial services industry. I know self funding a pension is the key to a happy retirement. Let us help. Reach out to us at 623-52-304. That number again, 623-52-304. Or find us on the web at anothermoneyshow.com and check us out every Saturday at noon on 9 60. The Patriot.