Matthew
Appearances
Global News Podcast
Israel attacks Gaza in ground offensive
November 2024 and the peace of this waterfront paradise in Van Vieng in Laos was shattered after a methanol poisoning outbreak. Three shots of supposedly alcoholic drinks containing this toxic substance at a hostel in the town claimed the lives of Simone White from the UK and Australians Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones, along with three others.
Global News Podcast
Israel attacks Gaza in ground offensive
International headlines brought this hidden issue of methanol poisoning to worldwide attention. But for Rashahi Medical College in the far west of Bangladesh, treating victims is commonplace. The hospital struggles to cope with demand at the best of times. So it was no surprise when eight people were poisoned by methanol in this district, claiming four lives.
Global News Podcast
Israel attacks Gaza in ground offensive
In Muslim countries like Bangladesh, where alcohol is illegal, bootleggers can easily and cheaply get hold of methanol. And there's a huge social stigma associated with methanol, which is why this victim doesn't want to be identified. Sadly, his best friends didn't survive.
Global News Podcast
Israel attacks Gaza in ground offensive
and believe it or not treating patients with alcohol is the first form of defense by buying doctors extra time as it prevents patients from metabolizing methanol into their system the problem is hospitals in bangladesh are not able to store alcohol or ethanol as it's known medically so doctors have to waste valuable time trying to find it in places like local hotels
Global News Podcast
Israel attacks Gaza in ground offensive
It's something Dr Mohamed Rabid Amin, a distinguished professor of medicine who's now working in the Bangladeshi government's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, says he's seen firsthand.
Global News Podcast
Israel attacks Gaza in ground offensive
It normally takes up to 24 hours for symptoms of methanol poisoning to appear. They include stomach pain, vomiting and frequent breathing, known as hyperventilation. Finally, patients are blinded and brain damaged.
Global News Podcast
Israel attacks Gaza in ground offensive
But Norwegian expert Professor Newt-Erik Hovda has developed a finger prick blood test that detects poisoning even before symptoms appear. He's now training up medics throughout Bangladesh and India as part of a clinical trial for the test, as well as a drug that can be used as a much better alternative treatment to ethanol.
Global News Podcast
Israel attacks Gaza in ground offensive
Over the past 25 years, there have been over 1,000 documented methanol outbreaks across the world, some claiming dozens or even hundreds of lives. But outbreaks are seldom reported in many countries. So the need for better diagnosis and treatment couldn't be greater.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
And Academy voters liked the movie, didn't care about the controversy and the noise and voted for it anyway. So not all of these controversies actually stick.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
I understand that argument and I don't agree with it because I think if anyone involved with Emilia Perez had had those tweets resurfaced, if it was Zoe Saldana, if it was Selena Gomez, if it was the filmmaker Odiard, if it was any of them that had those resurfaced, I think it would have absolutely imploded the film's campaign. They were so reprehensible. And it wasn't a one-off.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
It wasn't something that happened when this person was 15 years old. It wasn't something that was easily explained away. This was a barrage of really offensive messaging. Maybe there was more attention on it because this was the first transgender Best Actress nominee. But I think that any of the talent involved in any of these films would have suffered for those tweets.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
Yeah, maybe. I don't know. If it was Timothee Chalamet that had set those tweets, I think he would have had a really tough time. And it probably would have been a much bigger deal. The other thing about the Oscar season that is really interesting when it comes to controversies is people go from complete unknowns. Sorry to use the pun of a movie.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
They go from complete unknowns to ubiquitous in the course of five to seven months. Carla Gascon is a person that I had never heard of. I assume most people in the film community in the U.S. had never heard of.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
But by the time these tweets were uncovered, this is a person that I knew pretty well through events, through media, through commercials, through a press campaign that Netflix had orchestrated precisely to bring attention to this person. And this happens every year. I remember back when Lupita Nyong'o was an unknown actress. She ended up winning and she's had a great career after that.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
It adds a little bit of urgency to this need to check people's social media because what you post as an unknown person can come back to hurt you when you are a very famous person. And that's what happened in this situation.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
That is a very good question. And I would argue no, that the art should speak for itself, that what the filmmaker was trying to accomplish with it will still endure, even though this controversy has surrounded it. Unfortunately, that's not how Oscar voters vote.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
In the history of the Academy Awards, the voters have over and over shown that they vote on the merits of the art, but they also vote on the narrative surrounding the movie. And the narrative is created in a number of different ways. It is self-created. It can be things that the candidate says at different award shows. Look at what's going on with Demi Moore right now.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
She's winning all these awards for The Substance, a great movie and a great performance. But there is also a narrative around her that she has been in this business for 40 years, has put in her time. She has never been nominated for an Oscar. And it's about time.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
And I think that for best picture, you want to vote for something that you think is important. And it's very difficult to put your heart behind a movie as much as you liked it. If you don't believe the narrative of the main character and the narrative is the stuff going on outside the movie.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
I think Zoe Saldana will end up winning. And that's a perfect example. There's a feeling throughout Hollywood that she should not be punished for the actions of her co-star. She's done everything right this season. She's shaken all the hands. She's showed up at all the awards ceremonies. She's done the media. She's had a great career and has never been honored in this way.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
There is a sense that she's almost like a martyr in a way that she's kind of suffered for this movie and being dragged down. Voting for her is a way to honor the movie without voting for it for best picture.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
They pivoted because they had to pivot because as a smart campaigner, it's like a political campaign. If your vice president has a scandal, your ads don't focus on the vice president. Your ads focus on other people in the campaign. And that's exactly what happened in Netflix. Amelia Perez, the character, has sort of disappeared from the advertising of the movie called Amelia Perez.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
It's focused almost entirely on Zoe Saldana, Selena Gomez, the music, the artistry of it. Even at the SAG Awards, which is a key precursor, they completely erased Amelia Perez from the Amelia Perez promo. Netflix has spent tens of millions of dollars on this campaign designed to raise awareness of the movie and position it for awards voters. They have to pivot.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
If they have this controversy, they can't continue as if nothing has happened. They have to respond. When you talk to awards voters, they don't want to vote for this movie. They got a really bad taste in their mouth from these comments.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
It is. I mean, she could go on her own. The nominees are invited to attend. So it's not like She is banned or has to do anything to get invited. The key, as you mentioned, is whether Netflix is going to support her going. And my understanding is they are going to support her going to the Oscars. They are going to fly her in and put her up just like the other talent.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
I don't know how the financials work on the glam and getting ready. I don't know how much Netflix will front on that. Netflix was paying for her to have a PR person throughout the season. That, I believe, is not happening anymore. But they've decided that for the good of the movie, she is going to attend the Oscars.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
She has not attended a number of other ceremonies like the BAFTAs or the SAG Awards. But for the big one, for the Oscars, she will be there and presumably she will do the red carpet. So that should be interesting.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
Listen, Hollywood has a long tradition of forgiving and for allowing people to apologize, to move on. So I think with a little time and with a little bit of coaching, perhaps she could apologize and come back. We'll see.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
I have seen Amelia Perez and I enjoyed it. I saw it with a film festival audience in Toronto and it is a wild ride. It's very unusual. I understand some of the controversy around it, but as an audacious piece of filmmaking, I enjoyed it.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
She said it was a bummer.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
And that this was something that was unforeseen. They do not screen the prior social media history of the talent that they work with. And I think that was a mistake here.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
When you are in an Oscar race in 2025, there are people out there on social media who are trying to dig up unflattering facts about the candidates. These Oscar campaigns are exactly that. They are campaigns. They are political contests. And for six months, these movies are trying to jockey for position in the hearts and minds of Academy voters around the world.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
And if there is bad information out there on the Internet, someone is going to find it and resurface it. And Netflix didn't look at Carla Sofia Gascon's social media. If they had, they would have discovered these tweets. They could have deleted them. They could have planned and minimized this controversy. They didn't, and it blew up.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
Shockingly, it is common practice. These media companies, these movie studios don't look at the social media of their talent. Now, if you ask Netflix about this, they will say, We work with thousands and thousands of artists who produce hundreds of TV shows and hundreds of movies every year. We can't go policing every little thing someone has said on the Internet over their entire life.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
Now, I understand that. I think it's different when you have a movie that is in the Oscar race. And don't forget, Netflix purchased US rights to this movie at the Cannes Film Festival specifically to do an Oscar campaign for this movie. And I think the people who are in the Oscar race They are scrutinized to an extent that you have to check their social media.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
Every one of these candidates does dozens and dozens of press interviews. They are out there campaigning at events and screenings and lunches all over town, all over the world for six months. Bad stuff is going to come up if it's out there.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
Yeah, that's the name. Amelia Perez. This is Amelia Perez. They knew this was going to be a controversial movie. In fact, that's why they bought it. It is an openly transgender storyline. The transgender actress is the main character. And Netflix liked that, bought it because they thought it would appeal...
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
to Academy voters, and it showed 13 nominations, the most nominations of any film this year. For that kind of movie not to get the level of scrutiny that I think it deserved from Netflix, I think is a mistake. Now, you could not anticipate this kind of a situation. It is the worst case scenario. I had a guest on The Town call Gus Gohn a terrorist. Because she really did blow up this campaign.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
And it wasn't just that there were bad tweets. The tweets that were uncovered undermined the message of the film. One of acceptance, tolerance, of representation. And these tweets were just so regressive.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
No. I mean, there have been little micro controversies that have come up over the years. There was a film about 10 years ago called The Birth of a Nation, which was directed by a young filmmaker named Nate Parker. And that film sold at the Sundance Film Festival for what was then a record amount of money. And the studio behind it planned an Oscar campaign.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
What they didn't plan was that there would be some news reports resurfaces that the filmmaker had been on trial in college for rape.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
He was ultimately acquitted of that and he had denied that he was at fault at all. But that also derailed the Oscar campaign. And ultimately, the film barely even got a release.
Global News Podcast
The Global Story: The scandal sinking an Oscars campaign
Green Book is a great example of how the Academy voters tend not to care that much about these online controversies. You know, oh, this film is not representative of a certain group, or this person has said insensitive things in the past. It didn't stick because... It wasn't contrary to the narrative of the film in a way that Amelia Perez was. This was just noise that was out there.
Global News Podcast
EU agrees to boost defence spending
Das ist so, wie es angefangen hat. Du sagst, es hat acht Stunden gedauert. Ich habe gehört, du hast gesagt, dass es im Grunde die Intention war, eine Satire zu unterleiten, die megalomanische Natur der Idee. Ist das richtig?
Global News Podcast
EU agrees to boost defence spending
You thought you were going to offend the White House. In fact, the White House reposted it. I suppose what this underlines is the extraordinary potential creativity of AI, but all of the dangers as well.
Health Chatter
Navigating the Health System
Hi, everyone. It's Matthew from Behind the Scenes. And I wanted to let everyone know that we have a new website up and running, HelpChatterPodcast.com. You can go on there. You can interact with us. You can communicate with us, send us a message. You can comment on each episode. You can rate us.
Health Chatter
Navigating the Health System
And it's just another way for everyone to communicate with Stan and Clarence and all of us at the Help Chatter team. So definitely check it out. Again, that's HelpChatterPodcast.com.
Health Chatter
2035 Minnesota Cardiovascular and Diabetes Health State Plan
Hi, everyone. It's Matthew from Behind the Scenes. And I wanted to let everyone know that we have a new website up and running, HelpChatterPodcast.com. You can go on there. You can interact with us. You can communicate with us, send us a message. You can comment on each episode. You can rate us.
Health Chatter
2035 Minnesota Cardiovascular and Diabetes Health State Plan
And it's just another way for everyone to communicate with Stan and Clarence and all of us at the Help Chatter team. So definitely check it out. Again, that's HelpChatterPodcast.com.
Health Chatter
Public Health Leadership
Hi, everyone. It's Matthew from Behind the Scenes. And I wanted to let everyone know that we have a new website up and running, healthchatterpodcast.com. You can go on there. You can interact with us. You can communicate with us, send us a message. You can comment on each episode. You can rate us. And it's just another way for everyone to communicate with each
Health Chatter
Public Health Leadership
Stan and Clarence and all of us at the Health Chatter team. So definitely check it out. Again, that's healthchatterpodcast.com.
Health Chatter
Suicide Part 2
Hi, everyone. It's Matthew from Behind the Scenes. And I wanted to let everyone know that we have a new website up and running, HelpChatterPodcast.com. You can go on there. You can interact with us. You can communicate with us, send us a message. You can comment on each episode. You can rate us.
Health Chatter
Suicide Part 2
And it's just another way for everyone to communicate with Stan and Clarence and all of us at the Help Chatter team. So definitely check it out. Again, that's HelpChatterPodcast.com.
Health Chatter
Mental Health - Policy Implications
Hi, everyone. It's Matthew from Behind the Scenes. And I wanted to let everyone know that we have a new website up and running, HelpChatterPodcast.com. You can go on there. You can interact with us. You can communicate with us, send us a message. You can comment on each episode. You can rate us.
Health Chatter
Mental Health - Policy Implications
And it's just another way for everyone to communicate with Stan and Clarence and all of us at the Help Chatter team. So definitely check it out. Again, that's HelpChatterPodcast.com.
The Ramsey Show
Building Wealth Is Hard but Being Broke Is Harder
Well, in 2012, my dad passed away suddenly from cancer. I'm sorry. And he didn't have a very concise will put together. He had directives. Um, when he died, he was taking care of his mother, um, who was suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's six months after he died, she died. And that left everything that was supposed to go to kids and grandkids and cousins, um, kind of up in the air.
The Ramsey Show
Building Wealth Is Hard but Being Broke Is Harder
And then eventually everything was in my aunt's name. Um, so, um,
The Ramsey Show
Building Wealth Is Hard but Being Broke Is Harder
yeah so how now the the good how did it end up in her name probate she was the deciding that no no probate no probate somehow we skated by probate nobody was arguing about anything my aunt happened to be the last surviving child and it just it just went everything into my aunt's name because my dad's will was not in good shape um but my my grandmother's was um but she died after my dad.
The Ramsey Show
Building Wealth Is Hard but Being Broke Is Harder
So nothing went to him. So I, um, am in a position now to where like I'm the only person who has a steady job out of my siblings. Um, and I'm trying to get my siblings and my cousins together cause my, my aunt's husband is also dead. It was just my aunt and she's kind of going into a little bit of a mental decline. My siblings are okay. Everybody knows who's supposed to get what. From the aunt?
The Ramsey Show
Building Wealth Is Hard but Being Broke Is Harder
From my cousins. Yeah, from the aunt. Because she's okay with everybody getting what they were supposed to get in the beginning.
The Ramsey Show
Building Wealth Is Hard but Being Broke Is Harder
The cousins, nobody's arguing about anything that they're supposed to get.
The Ramsey Show
Building Wealth Is Hard but Being Broke Is Harder
Correct. Okay. So what we've got, this is the biggest struggle, is my aunt's two children... The only bicker is over her own personal effects that she had and her husband had. Not about the properties, nothing that anything my grandmother had. They're fighting over those things, and it's making it difficult for any of the rest of us to get a regular will set up.
The Ramsey Show
Building Wealth Is Hard but Being Broke Is Harder
Okay, so I'm going to be, I'm collecting rent on two homes. There's no mortgages. Everything's paid for. There's no mortgages. I'm collecting rent on two together. They're about $375,000. And those are to become yours? Yes. Yeah.
The Ramsey Show
Building Wealth Is Hard but Being Broke Is Harder
She is reluctant to go along with it unless her two kids agree on what... It's supposed to be divided that was my aunt's and her husband's.
The Ramsey Show
Building Wealth Is Hard but Being Broke Is Harder
And that's my struggle. No, you are.
The Ramsey Show
Building Wealth Is Hard but Being Broke Is Harder
That's what we're struggling to do. Do you have, like, any suggestions and, like, how to speak to them in such a manner, because headlocks won't work. They're a bunch of hillbillies. We all are, actually.
The Ramsey Show
Building Wealth Is Hard but Being Broke Is Harder
Okay, so if that was to occur, would there be some sort of net gain tax?
The Ramsey Show
Surviving the Money Storm Starts with Tough Choices
You sound like y'all always got it together, son. Just need your help thinking I'm supposed to get married here in a couple weeks. Congrats. Thanks, there. But yikes, kind of. And it has mainly to do with kids. I've got
The Ramsey Show
Surviving the Money Storm Starts with Tough Choices
kids and how my new wife interacts i guess the question being how much does my new wife have say so into how i uh raise my kids uh spend money on my kids and that type of thing because it's really i'm really kind of struggling with it all right real quick question because i i my colleague is loaded up ready to go um i i i want to know this how long have you two been dating
The Ramsey Show
Surviving the Money Storm Starts with Tough Choices
She's 16, but for example, like when the subject comes up, and I don't like saying this, and I know it's probably wrong, but I say I'm a dad first if you make me choose. Is that a wrong thing to say? Yes.
The Ramsey Show
Surviving the Money Storm Starts with Tough Choices
She's nice to my kids. That's not it. But we're kind of different when things come up like, well, I go, well, if they're 22, they're going to be on their own. I'm like, well, yeah, but I sure hope so, but. what if something happens and they need to move back in, you know, that kind of thing. Again, those, those things come up or do you, are you,
The Ramsey Show
Surviving the Money Storm Starts with Tough Choices
Are you going to pay for their master's degrees too instead of us going to Hawaii for vacation? So I'm like, wait a minute.
The Ramsey Show
Surviving the Money Storm Starts with Tough Choices
No, but I can't move it. It's not moving, so. You know what?
The Ramsey Show
Attack Your Debt Instead of Letting It Attack You
Wow. And your range of income during that time? $144,000 to $177,000. Nice jump in one year. Oh, yeah. What do you guys do for a living? I work for the United States Postal Service. Mm-hmm.
The Ramsey Show
Attack Your Debt Instead of Letting It Attack You
Awesome. Way to go, guys. What kind of debt was the 113? Two auto loans and student debt loans. Ah, most of it student. Yes.
The Ramsey Show
Attack Your Debt Instead of Letting It Attack You
Oh yeah. I listened to the book on the way to work and then just got hooked and there it was.
The Ramsey Show
Attack Your Debt Instead of Letting It Attack You
I fit myself into it most days. Makes a couple of folds. Yeah, it does. Just a little bit.
The Ramsey Show
Attack Your Debt Instead of Letting It Attack You
Yeah. Way off the charts. It's over in a blink of an eye. You're debt free.
The Ramsey Show
Attack Your Debt Instead of Letting It Attack You
Yeah, and that's exactly what it is. It's just like, we can do anything now. It's a very come at me bro mentality. Very much so, yeah. Good for you guys. Well done. Thank you.
The Ramsey Show
Attack Your Debt Instead of Letting It Attack You
Amazing. Yeah, just amazing. It just felt so like you don't feel like how bogged down you are by the debt until it's gone. What was the biggest sacrifice, the hardest thing? Getting rid of the Gladiator? Yeah, that was probably it.
The Ramsey Show
Attack Your Debt Instead of Letting It Attack You
Yeah, a little bit of a different feel. But none of those people in that line are paying your bills.
The Ramsey Show
Attack Your Debt Instead of Letting It Attack You
I have to remind myself that. I'm like, hey, you know what? I don't need that payment. This car gets me an A to B. Well, and you're sitting in that line looking and you're going, and you got a payment. And you got a payment.
The Ramsey Show
Attack Your Debt Instead of Letting It Attack You
I just run it till the wheels fall off. I travel for work a little bit. So I'm like, it gets great gas mileage. So I'm just going to keep it. And I'm like, hey, it's paid for. So yeah.
The Ramsey Show
Attack Your Debt Instead of Letting It Attack You
What a peaceful way to live. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's amazing. What do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is? Just shared vision and goals. You got to have the same goals to get through it.
The Ramsey Show
Attack Your Debt Instead of Letting It Attack You
Who was cheering you on as you went? Just friends and family.
The Ramsey Show
Attack Your Debt Instead of Letting It Attack You
She is nine. And this is Jane. She's seven. All right. Beautiful.
The Ramsey Show
There’s No Fast Track to Financial Freedom
Sorry about that. Not much. Um, long story short, I graduated college a year ago. I've been working at a pretty big corporation for the past year. Um, they notified me a few weeks ago that I'm getting laid off in March. And, um, in the meantime, I've actually gotten a job offer in Dubai and I was wondering,
The Ramsey Show
There’s No Fast Track to Financial Freedom
If I should take this offer, you know, worst case scenario, I stay out there for a few years and I don't have to pay any tax and just use that extra money that I'm not having to pay in tax as like a wealth building opportunity.
The Ramsey Show
There’s No Fast Track to Financial Freedom
No, no, it's actually, so I'm in a logistics role right now and this would be a sales role.
The Ramsey Show
There’s No Fast Track to Financial Freedom
The base pay is almost the exact same as what I'm making now. And then there'd be bonuses on top of that. And they said eventually they would like to try to make me a partner at the company. It was started by an American a few years ago in Dubai.
The Ramsey Show
There’s No Fast Track to Financial Freedom
I actually met this guy in college at a bar a few years ago, and he knows I'm really interested in Middle Eastern politics, and I like to read and stuff. So he actually called me and said that this company was trying to bring in Westerners to represent them and work on a lot of their deals. And so he had me in mind and just gave me a call.
The Ramsey Show
There’s No Fast Track to Financial Freedom
And it was just purely coincidence that I'd just been laid off.
The Ramsey Show
There’s No Fast Track to Financial Freedom
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, just... I feel like saving the money alone from having to pay 0% tax.
The Ramsey Show
There’s No Fast Track to Financial Freedom
Yeah. I mean, I've been looking into it. So pretty much the main stipulations are I have to stay out of the U.S.,
The Ramsey Show
There’s No Fast Track to Financial Freedom
for um 32 days or less uh-huh um once i stay once i'm in the u.s for more than 32 days i'll have to pay tax right right right um and then also if i make more than 114 000 i'll have to pay uh income tax in the united states okay so that was my that was my question so your start is is 114 you're starting or is it a little less than that No, so the actual base is 72.
The Ramsey Show
There’s No Fast Track to Financial Freedom
My current job that I'm getting laid off from, I'm making 74.6. And then with bonuses, last year I ended up making about 86.
The Ramsey Show
There’s No Fast Track to Financial Freedom
Yeah, absolutely. So I've been using like different programs, talking to different people. Obviously, like if I live in the Dubai Marina area, like where the Burj Khalifa is, everyone knows that's going to be more expensive. But actually in like the suburbs area, it's pretty comparable to Nashville. It's not a little cheaper. And then from what I've heard,
The Ramsey Show
There’s No Fast Track to Financial Freedom
And what I'm reading online is, is things like insurance are significantly cheaper, uh, food costs, that type of thing. Just your day to day expenses are significantly cheaper. And the program I used was Numbeo. And it's on average, Dubai is about 14% cheaper than living in Metro Nashville.
The Ramsey Show
There’s No Fast Track to Financial Freedom
I mean, with the way I understand the permanent residency in Dubai, while I'm in that process, which takes about six months, I'll pretty much have to stay there for that six months. But after that, I would be free to go whenever.
The Ramsey Show
Stop Letting Other People's Problems Ruin Your Finances
So I sort of have like one question. So I'm not like an avid watcher of the Ramsey show, but I see a lot of clips online where you guys talk about mutual funds and investing in mutual funds. I was wondering, why do you recommend mutual funds over index funds?
The Ramsey Show
Stop Letting Other People's Problems Ruin Your Finances
Yeah, I've been investing since I was 15. Oh, my goodness. Dude, that's amazing. Who taught you that? My dad taught me a little bit, and I read about it.
The Ramsey Show
Stop Letting Other People's Problems Ruin Your Finances
So I was doing, like, mostly index funds, but... I like to play around, do some stock picks, but obviously not a big portion of my portfolio goes towards that.
The Ramsey Show
Stop Letting Other People's Problems Ruin Your Finances
No. I still live with my mom at home.
The Ramsey Show
Stop Letting Other People's Problems Ruin Your Finances
I just put in a regular brokerage.
The Ramsey Show
Stop Letting Other People's Problems Ruin Your Finances
Yeah. I mean, one thing that's sort of important to note is that mutual funds sort of have built-in fees, right? You know what I mean? Correct. There's built-in fees.
The Ramsey Show
Stop Letting Other People's Problems Ruin Your Finances
Do you look for specifics in a mutual fund to try to hit those funds? Because I know 80% of mutual funds don't beat the market.
The Ramsey Show
Stop Letting Other People's Problems Ruin Your Finances
Right, but why are you looking at a 12-month period versus like, you know, decades?
The Ramsey Show
Stop Letting Other People's Problems Ruin Your Finances
What do you look for in a mutual fund, though?
The Ramsey Show
Stop Letting Other People's Problems Ruin Your Finances
Good. But, um, isn't that sort of, um, inevitable? I mean, if, if a mutual fund has a 30 year history with one manager and I'm 21 and I want to invest for another 30 years, you know, Isn't there pretty much a guarantee that the fund manager is going to change the fund management team?
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Amber Maykut
You are not the first person I've said that to that responded with that concern.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Amber Maykut
I'm, like, imagining, like, I'm, like, fell down bleeding. And I'm, like, can you help me? And they're, like, you're flirting.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Amber Maykut
I actually work at the Southeastern Center of Robotics Education. It's an outreach office where we work with teachers to help them get comfortable incorporating educational robotics into their classrooms.