Wharton FinTech Podcast
00:36:44 · Matt Palese, Vaibhav
That's what we're going to keep building towards. [00:36:48] S0: The job offer feature is quite interesting. I can see how that can give someone almost like six months to an year of headway in terms of the savings they can make. And finally, a word of advice from you. What would you say Wharton or other graduate students, many of whom are in their early careers or still paying loans, actually should do right now? Is there any one thing that matters from a financial planning or a wealth management perspective?
00:37:16 · Matt Palese
[00:37:16] S1: Yeah, I think that goes back to where, you know, why do we think people choose not to refinance today? Or why do we think that 10% is so low? You know, part of the problem being just inertia and inaction. I think the advice I would give is to develop a plan, right? The sooner you act, the quicker you can actually start to realize the full return on your investment, which in this case is your education. And so acting fast and quick is the most important thing. I think second, be strategic about your choices. Not every loan is created equal, so it doesn't have to be an all or nothing decision. Sometimes it only makes sense to refinance a portion of your loans while leaving the rest alone, right? That sometimes can complicate the decision. But if the objective is to get out of debt faster or reduce your monthly payment, And as a borrower, you have multiple loans that were taken out over multiple academic years. Those loans likely have different interest rates, right? And so it may not necessarily make sense to refinance all of those loans, but some of those loans, it might make more sense. And so just be strategic when you do act, because I do think there's options that are out there where you don't have to kind of make this an all or nothing decision. I think the last thing I'll say is be thoughtful about what you do with your savings, right? And so if the objective is to pay less over the life of your loan, and so therefore you have more excess cash flow, you know, think about how you should start allocating that free cash flow that you've freed up effectively into a potential brokerage account or a savings account that can compound over time and ultimately build into much more meaningful wealth. I think the thing that I'm incredibly thankful for in my own life is growing up is really being disciplined very early on about spending less than I make, thinking long term and really valuing the benefits of compounding. So it didn't feel like I was making a lot of progress over the years when I was just taking the $100 or $200 or $300 whatever it may be, and stashing it in a brokerage or savings account. But you fast forward ten, twenty, thirty years later, you really start to see the value of compounding.
00:39:55 · Matt Palese, Vaibhav
And so the faster you can think about, one, acting, and then two, being strategic about how you make those decisions, and then thoughtful about how you take advantage of those excess savings, I think could be extremely impactful longer term. [00:40:12] S0: Yeah, that's great advice. On the final note, what's the best way for someone to reach out to you? Is it LinkedIn or otherwise? [00:40:20] S1: Yeah. So I'm in LinkedIn. You can you can find me on LinkedIn. It's Matt Palese, p a l e s e, or you can shoot shoot me an email. It's, matt, matt.palese,palese,@Earnest.com. [00:40:33] S0: All right. Great. Thank you so much, Matt. This has been an incredibly insightful conversation and really appreciate you spending time with us today. [00:40:40] S1: Yeah. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me. I really appreciate it. [00:40:44] S0: Thanks it.