Have you ever gotten a message on Facebook that looks something like this? “HEY GIRL, I HAVEN’T SEEN YOU IN A WHILE, YOU LOOK AMAAAAZING. DO YOU WANT TO LOOK EVEN BETTER AT YOUR NEXT EVENT? BUY MY MASCARA AND I’LL THROW IN A FREE GIFT. BUT HURRY, SALE ENDS AT MIDNIGHT.” Yeah…those messages.
While it may be easy to brush these off, roll our eyes, and hit delete, a surprising number of women in America are caught up in these businesses, known as multi-level marketing schemes. In today's episode, Jean Chatzky talks to Jane Marie, author of Selling the Dream: The Billion Dollar Industry Bankrupting Americans about why MLMs target women specifically, the signs to look out for to know if you’re being targeted by one, and what to do next if you’ve already lost money.
In Mailbag, a listener asks how to find the best low-cost brokerage account and we do the math on whether ‘becoming a millionaire by retirement’ is feasible for everyone. In our news of the week, we talk about Donald Trump’s new stock, the end of swipe fees on Visa and Mastercard, and the passing of behavioral economist Daniel Kahneman.
Takeaways:
Chapters:
00:00:00: Introduction to the podcast and the topic of MLMs
00:10:03: Introduction of guest Jane Marie
00:15:23: The nature of MLMs today
00:18:49: The appeal of MLMs to individuals
00:21:17: The cycle of investment and loss in MLMs
00:23:59: The reality of income in MLMs
00:25:49: Why MLMs target women
00:30:51: The role of the FTC in regulating MLMs
00:32:51: Current trends and "flavors of the month" in MLMs
00:34:37: Jane Marie's hopes for the impact of her book "Selling the Dream"
00:37:13: Mailbag
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The HerMoney with Jean Chatzky podcast is sponsored by Edelman Financial Engines. The podcast team and its host are neither employees nor clients of EFE, however, the show does receive fixed compensation and is a paid endorser and therefore has an incentive to endorse EFE and its planners. To learn more about the sponsorship, please visit PlanEFE.com/HerMoney.
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