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  • Today we're gonna talk about [BEEP]. What did I say? [BEEP] Look I know [BEEP] is technically a four-letter

  • word but how are we ever gonna get out of [BEEP] if we can't even say the word [BEEP] ...DEBT!

  • Ha! Gotcha!

  • Among the subjects that people like to

  • talk about debt ranks right between toenail fungus and other people's dreams

  • your brain just doesn't want to hear it. And that emotional reaction is partly

  • why it's so hard to pay it off.

  • But there's hope!

  • Researchers have figured out a way to rewire your brain into taking this monster head-on.

  • Not only can it save your finances it can teach you a lot

  • about how your brain works and maybe in the future you won't have

  • to be afraid of the word [BEEP].

  • Oh, come on!

  • The average debt holder in America currently holds about $8,000 in credit

  • card debt over three cards! $26,000 in student loans

  • another $10,000 in car loans. That's a lot for one person to manage and they all

  • have different interest rates, terms and loan balances. In short it's a bit of a

  • confusing mess. So how do we get started?

  • First things first

  • you've got to mind the gap. The gap is the difference between what you make and

  • spend in a month. Without a gap there's no money available to make any kind of

  • progress. The two ways to widen your gap are more income or less spending.

  • Hopefully it's a mixture of both. Once you have a gap to work with it's time to

  • think of strategy.

  • If you ask a mathematician how to structure your debt

  • they'd probably recommend something like the Avalanche approach. You list your

  • debts by interest rates with the highest at the top and the lowest at the bottom.

  • You pay minimums on everything except the loan with the highest interest rate

  • which gets the biggest part of your gap. Once that one's paid off you use the

  • increased cash flow to move down the hillside like an avalanche. By the time

  • you get to the bottom you save the most money because you paid as little

  • interest as possible! It's mathematical it's logical and it

  • doesn't work very well...

  • The Avalanche approach may be

  • mathematically sound but it omits one important factor... your brain! Humans

  • aren't robots or Vulcans they're emotional beings. They get discouraged,

  • they get overwhelmed, they have trouble staying on course. It's the same reason

  • why those debt consolidation plans can be a bad idea. It may seem like you're

  • simplifying your life to put all of your loans into one big basket but what it

  • really does is create a giant hulking dead monster that feels so

  • intimidating your brain just gives up.

  • So is there a method that works with your

  • brain's psychology instead of against it? Well it turns out...

  • Julia we're in the

  • middle of something here.

  • I know I was about to put it down but then I cleared

  • a boss stage and upgraded the frosting on my cupcake cannon I think I can get

  • to the persimmon palace by bedtime!

  • Turns out the same mind-control techniques

  • found in video games can work with your finances.

  • Game designers strategically

  • dole out positive reinforcements. Clearing a board of gems, upgrading your

  • loot which floods your brain with pleasurable dopamine and keeps you

  • playing. At first these rewards are handed out easily and often to get you

  • hooked and then more spaced out and difficult as time goes by. It's really

  • effective and a little bit evil but the same brain hacking technique can be used

  • to pay off your debt. It's called the "Snowball Method". Instead

  • of listing your debts by interest rate we list them by balance. Like the

  • Avalanche approach you pay minimums on all of them except you focus your

  • firepower on the smallest balance. Once that's wiped out you roll the extra cash

  • down the hill to the next highest balance and so on and so on. The snowball

  • method ensures you easy victories early on to keep you motivated. Every time you

  • cross a debt off your list it's like slaying a beast and upgrading

  • your weapon. Your brain will keep chasing that dopamine fix even as the

  • levels get more challenging.

  • [MUSIC]

  • While someone using the snowball method will technically pay more overall

  • interest than someone using the Avalanche approach that assumes that

  • they're both going to see it through. But a study by Northwestern University found

  • that snow ballers were much more likely to actually stick with the plan and

  • successfully eliminate their debt even if they owed more money than the

  • Avalanchers. Because they gave themselves that dopamine edge...

  • Oh, [BEEP]!

  • Julia...

  • Sorry.

  • No matter what method you use the hardest part of getting out of debt is

  • often just starting. And it can get lonely because, you know, people don't

  • like to talk about it. But with determination and planning you can turn

  • debt into something you don't want to think about into something you don't have to .

  • And that's our two cents!

  • [MUSIC]

Today we're gonna talk about [BEEP]. What did I say? [BEEP] Look I know [BEEP] is technically a four-letter

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