It's Not Too Late: How to Reset Your Money Habits at 50
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Do you think it's possible to change your habits at a fundamental level? What about if you've been a little lax with your money for say the past 50 years? This episode, we talk about whether old dogs really can learn new tricks as retirement is fast approaching. Welcome to NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast, where you send us your money questions and we answer them with the help of our genius nerds. I'm Sean Piles.
And I'm Elizabeth Ayola. Later, we're going to answer a question about how to reset your money habits. But first, our weekly news roundup, where we bring you the latest in the world of finance to help you be smarter with your money. Our news colleague, Angel Hoskey, is back and she's here to talk about what's happening with gas prices.
Ana, they're so high. Hi. They are high, but they have also eased from the highs that we saw during the height of the Iran war. But they are starting to rise again. As of recording, the average price per gallon is $3.86, according to AAA. Now, peace between the U.S. and Iran remains uncertain. Tenuous. On July 8th, Trump said that as far as he was concerned, the ceasefire agreement was over. Now, oil markets are sensitive to that uncertainty, which means that gas prices are too. Now, the conflict with Iran underscores how quickly global events can affect household budgets. But here's the surprising part. The drivers who are likely to feel the most pain aren't actually the ones paying the highest prices per gallon.
Here to explain more is my colleague, Kurt Wook, data studies producer here at NerdWallet. Kurt, welcome back to Smart Money.
Hi, Anna. Glad to be back.
You did an analysis that looks beyond the prices labeled on the pump. Why is total gas spending a better measure of consumer impact than the price per gallon?
That's a great question, and I'm going to answer it with a quick story. So I live in Chicago, but I spent the July 4th weekend with my sister-in-law's family in southern Indiana. And on the drive back, we watched those gas prices tick up the closer we got to the Illinois border. And we filled up near Gary, Indiana, and a ton of cars were there with Illinois plates. And when we were in Chicago, gas prices were like a dollar more expensive per gallon. And that's usually how this story goes, right? People talk about where they saw the craziest, highest prices. But that's actually just the start of the story. Think about your credit card bill or your bank statement the last time you bought gas.
How do rising global events affect gas prices and household budgets?
You will not see the price of gas anywhere on that.
Right. You're just seeing the total amount that you spent.
Right. So if we all bought the same amount, let's say five gallons a week, then knowing the price might be all we need to know. But we don't all buy the same amount. That's the missing piece of the puzzle here. How much people consume.
Well, that makes sense. So if gas in my town costs a dollar less than gas in your town, but you buy five gallons per week and I buy 10, who's really winning?
Total spending is really what matters to our budgets. So we estimated what that average consumption level looks like in different states by looking at a variety of data. For example, the types of cars you drive and the average fuel efficiency of those cars and how many highway miles versus city miles people put on. And we ultimately came up with the estimated number of gallons of gas that the average driver buys in each of the 50 states.
OK, so you have a general idea of how much gas people are buying and you know how much gas costs in each state.
Yes. We track the average gas price in each of the 50 states. And I'm going to complicate things just a little bit further. Oh, good. We compared prices in February before gas prices rose to June when they were higher. And guess what? They didn't rise equally.
Right, of course they didn't.
So an example, what do you know about gas prices in California?
Well, they're really high.
Yes. California, notoriously high gas prices. The average price per gallon in February was $4.64. And in May, it was all the way up to $6.09 per gallon.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–2:14
2
How do rising global events affect gas prices and household budgets?
2:14–5:15
3
Why does total weekly gas spending matter more than price per gallon?
5:15–10:52
4
How did NerdWallet estimate state-by-state gas consumption and spending changes?
10:52–24:11
5
Which states saw the biggest increases in weekly gas spending and why?
24:11–32:11
6
What practical steps can consumers take to make their finances resilient to gas price spikes?
32:11–35:02
Speakers
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